Social and occupational caste in some communities
A caste system is present in Pakistan’s communities whereby a child is born into a caste or “jati” and cannot leave to join another caste. Their caste system is based on one’s profession which means that by changing their profession he or she is leaving the caste that they were born into. (Satti, 1990)
However, not all locals adhere to this caste system and the government is trying to stop locals from practicing it. Such caste systems are predominantly found in Punjab and Sindh communities whereby majority of the ‘low-caste’ locals live in rural areas. Most of such people are farmers who do not own their own land and rent land from ‘higher-caste’ locals in their communities. Without land ownership, some of these poor local often end up working as labourers, exploited by companies for their cheap labour. This shows that their income do depend on their caste in some communities in Pakistan and hence increasing the number of people living under the country’s poverty line. (Satti, 1990)
Another issue caused by the caste system is that it causes children born into lower caste families have little or no opportunity to get an education. According to Jacoby and Mansuri (2011), a child from a low-caste family faces rejection from enrolling into nearby schools if the school consists of children from high caste families. They are even more unlikely to enroll into the school if it is private due to its costly school fees. This prevents them from having an education which results in them having difficulties breaking out of the poverty cycle.
However, not all locals adhere to this caste system and the government is trying to stop locals from practicing it. Such caste systems are predominantly found in Punjab and Sindh communities whereby majority of the ‘low-caste’ locals live in rural areas. Most of such people are farmers who do not own their own land and rent land from ‘higher-caste’ locals in their communities. Without land ownership, some of these poor local often end up working as labourers, exploited by companies for their cheap labour. This shows that their income do depend on their caste in some communities in Pakistan and hence increasing the number of people living under the country’s poverty line. (Satti, 1990)
Another issue caused by the caste system is that it causes children born into lower caste families have little or no opportunity to get an education. According to Jacoby and Mansuri (2011), a child from a low-caste family faces rejection from enrolling into nearby schools if the school consists of children from high caste families. They are even more unlikely to enroll into the school if it is private due to its costly school fees. This prevents them from having an education which results in them having difficulties breaking out of the poverty cycle.