A photograph of participants of Pakistani Women’s Education Conference at Karachi in November 1947, taken by famous Life Magazine photographer Margaret Bourke-White.
Bourke-White traveled all over Pakistan for a series of photographs on education in the young nation. Female literacy in Pakistan was among the lowest in the world at Independence – about 12 percent at the time of the first census in 1951.
The event was part of the All Pakistan Education Conference convened by Muhammad Ali Jinnah, which recommended free and compulsory education all over the country.
The woman in a burka, second from left, is Khadeeja Ferozuddin, deputy director of Public Instruction of West Punjab. She called for separate medical schools for men and women at the conference.
In its January 5, 1948 issue, Life magazine carried a cropped picture of her with the following caption: “The Lady in the Lace personifies old customs and traditions connected with Pakistan's religion... She opposes co-education. She veils her face and even hides her hands in gloves.”
Bourke-White traveled all over Pakistan for a series of photographs on education in the young nation. Female literacy in Pakistan was among the lowest in the world at Independence – about 12 percent at the time of the first census in 1951.
The event was part of the All Pakistan Education Conference convened by Muhammad Ali Jinnah, which recommended free and compulsory education all over the country.
The woman in a burka, second from left, is Khadeeja Ferozuddin, deputy director of Public Instruction of West Punjab. She called for separate medical schools for men and women at the conference.
In its January 5, 1948 issue, Life magazine carried a cropped picture of her with the following caption: “The Lady in the Lace personifies old customs and traditions connected with Pakistan's religion... She opposes co-education. She veils her face and even hides her hands in gloves.”