Nowhere to study

The poor standard of education in Pakistan is not a new story, but it is always shocking to discover how little attention is paid to it. Despite five years of rule of the PTI government that claimed to put ‘youth first,’ the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa continues to show shocking figures when it comes to schooling. Between 73 and 77 percent of children are forced to leave their schooling after completing primary education due to a shortage of high schools. This effectively means that only one out of five children who enter the schooling system in KP is able to complete matriculation. The numbers of those who are able to finish intermediate and higher degrees are likely to be even lower. The lack of schools is compounded by poor education standards and poor results, which means that the state-education system in KP does not offer a way for poor children to make their way out of poverty. While some richer families are able to afford private schools for higher education, poorer parents have no other option but to keep their children at home or force them into child labour.

Enrolment figures themselves remain poor with only 63 percent of children enrolled for primary schools, which comes down to 35 percent for high school. This means that there are at least 1.8 million children out of school in KP today. The figures for the number of schools are worrying too. There are almost 21,000 primary schools, which reduces to around 2,200 high schools and 643 higher secondary schools in the province. This means that the KP schooling system does not have a capacity to absorb more children. This also means that the state is abdicating its responsibility to educate children.

And how can the government improve enrolment when there are not even an adequate number of schools in the province? Some in the provincial government blame parents for not wanting to send their children to school, but how can they when there are no high schools available near their homes? The issue of school shortages in KP is a serious one, which is mirrored across the provinces. We cannot blame parents when the schools are not even available. One government after another continues to peddle excuses for why so few children are able to complete schooling, but the blame lies solely with them.