---
title: "Educating Boys and Girls in the Muslim World"
description: "Muslim publics overwhelmingly support educating girls and boys equally."
date: "2010-03-04"
authors:
  - name: "Russell Heimlich"
    job_title: "Former web developer"
    link: "https://www.pewresearch.org/staff/russell-heimlich/"
url: "https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2010/03/04/educating-boys-and-girls-in-the-muslim-world/"
---

# Educating Boys and Girls in the Muslim World

In all eight predominantly Muslim nations surveyed in 2009 a strong majority say it is equally important to educate girls and boys. This opinion is shared by more than eight-in-ten in Lebanon (96%), Indonesia (93%), Turkey (89%), Pakistan (87%) and the Palestinian territories (85%). Very few in any of these countries say education is more important for either boys or girls. In Egypt (16%) and Jordan (19%) a considerable number say it is more important to educate boys, but in both countries (12% in Egypt and 15% in Jordan) comparable percentagessay it is more important to educate girls. Only among Nigerian Muslims do far more say it is more important to educate boys (29%) than say it is more important to educate girls (2%); still a majority (68%) says girls and boys should be educated equally. Egalitarian views are somewhat more widespread than in 2007 in Pakistan (+13 percentage points) and the Palestinian territories (+11 points). [Read More](https://www.pewresearch.org/pubs/1486/survey-muslim-nations-middle-east-political-leaders-hamas-hezbollah)