ISLAMABAD: A new report by education campaigners Alif Ailaan has underscored the need to promote girls` education in Balochistan and shows that the lack of educational opportunities for girls has not prevented girls from outperforming boys in matriculation examinations.

Female participation in secondary examinations has seen a cumulative increase of 193 per cent over the last 15 years, jumping from 18 per cent in 2001 to 30 per cent in 2015.

The report attributes this to a rapid increase in girls` high schools, but notes that they are still outnumbered by boys` high schools.

These findings were incorporated in the research report, titled `PASS/FAIL? Matriculation Examination Results in Balochistan and What They Mean for the Future`, which was launched on Thursday.

The report uses data from Balochistan Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education (BBISE) and utilizes the scores of students who appeared in the matric examinations in 2014, as well as longitudinal data from 2001 to 2015.

Amongst its other findings, the reportnoted the need for more high schools and elite government schools for girls, a greater emphasis on teacher training, and approaches tailored to provincial education departments.

The report notes that while `other government schools` a category dominated by military-run schools and cadet colleges, as well as Balochistan Residential Colleges (BRCs) dominate higher exam results, girls are not admitted to schools in this category. This means that while girls are outperforming boys in government and private schools, they are not given the opportunity to attend elite government schools in the province.

`The largest share of [girls] is in private schools at 34% followed by government schools at 32%. The lowest percentage is in the `other government` category at 22%.

Girls, therefore, face a degree of exclusion from elite government schools that they do not face in ordinary government schools, or private schools.

The report goes on to state that while girls perform better than boys in most grade positions, they are outnumbered by boys for `A+` positions because the majority of students receiving this grade belong to elite government schools, from which girls are excluded.