illions of school-age children in Pakistan are either working or roaming the streets, many as beggars. What does the future hold for them? Are the children meant to stay out of school? The latest report by the Pak Alliance for Maths and Science says that 25.3 million children (36 percent) aged 5-16 are out of school in the country.

Even this staggering figure is the tip of the iceberg. Data shows that the number has been increasing since the turn of the century. Every Pakistan Social and Living Standards Measurement survey has recorded a larger number. Why has this issue has not been addressed?

The lack of skilled leadership is a fundamental challenge. The governments, the biggest stakeholders in education, have not done enough. Despite the constitutional provision (Article 25-A) for frees and compulsory school education, sufficient resources have not been allocated for schools.

The budgetary allocation for the financial year 2024 was only 1.9 percent of the GDP. Whenever there is economic hardship, the education budget gets slashed.

There is an obvious shortage of resources allocated by the governments as well as inefficiency in its use. Even if budgets are substantially increased, lack of credible frameworks and allocation methods could continue to prevent the desired outcomes.

A clear roadmap identifying the problems of out of school children and measures to address those can help. Policy solutions like public-private partnerships can always be attempted. However, the governments need to be the first to take responsibility. This needs to happen at every level - federal, provincial and district. Private sector and the volunteers can then be assigned their roles.

That the successive governments have failed in this duty does not necessarily mean that the parties that have led those governments alone are to blame. Political stability has a huge role. A prime example of this is the Parho Punjab, Barho Punjab programme launched in 2015 which had provided a glimmer of hope but hit a roadblock with the change in governments. Taking over in 2018, the new provincial administration shifted priorities, and many of the initiatives under this programme were scaled down. The focus then shifted to rebranding the programme rather than relevant outcomes.

This lack of continuity resulting from political instability affects the people of Pakistan in myriad ways. There is a need for the programmes launched for public welfare to be independent of political narratives. The scope and mindset of the governments/political leadership should be broader and bigger - they should be able to see beyond the rebranding of the programmes and focus on how these benefit the society at large in the long term.

These challenges are not limited to provisions by the government. External factors like security challenges also play a huge role. With the terrorist outfits spread across the country in several regions, it is hard to take up development. An example of this is the Education for All initiative in Balochistan.

The EFA initiative, backed by the government of Pakistan and international donors like the UNESCO, aimed to achieve universal primary education in Balochistan. It focused on improving access to education in some of the province’s most remote areas. However, it was discontinued on account of significant security threats, including conflict and insurgency, which made it difficult to sustain the project.

Schools in remote areas were targeted regularly so that many teachers were unable to work. In percentage terms, Balochistan has the highest rate of out of school children (47 percent according to The Missing Third report by the PAMS).

Keeping in perspective the other reasons for children not attending schools for example helping parents with work, distance from school and unwillingness to study, the security challenge gives them yet another reason to stay out of school.

While the challenge may present itself as a mountain to climb, there have been examples in other developing countries that Pakistan can take inspiration from.

Around the world

Across the globe, the out-of-school children have been a major challenge for policymakers.

Pakistan is home to a number of internally displaced people as a result of insurgencies and forced migrations. To enhance access to education for all in such circumstances, the example of Nigeria is noteworthy. With 2.2 million displaced people, an education crisis response was launched in 2014.

A clear roadmap identifying the problems of out of school children and measures to address those can help. The governments need to take responsibility. 

1,241 informal education centres were opened across the land, utilising mosques, churches and Quranic schools. These centres followed the existing curriculum and tailored their methods according to the students, of whom some had not received education for over two years. Slowly, education became a normal amidst a national crisis, ensuring that children were not deprived of their right to education.

While government actions are of paramount importance in solving the out-of-school children crisis, there is little hope of improvement unless the value of education is recognised by the parents. For that, a bottom-up approach has to be advocated where community members recognise the significance of children’s education and strive towards promoting it.

Bangladesh’s Reaching Out-of-School Children project is an inspiration because of the success it achieved in recent years. Starting in 2008 with the help of the World Bank, the programme emphasised community engagement. Aside from establishing 22,500 Ananda schools, the programme led to the community being active members of facilitating this change through the Centre Management Committees. With a sense of community ownership of the new schools, students made it to the classrooms, lowering the rate of out-of-school children.

Given the galloping poverty and inflation in recent years, the cost of education and potential opportunity costs make education unfeasible for many parents. When having to choose between sons and daughters to pursue education, the former are often preferred over the latter.

Ethiopia had a similar problem until the Girls’ Education Challenge was launched in 2012. It led to the education of 119,325 girls from marginalised groups, through four unique projects. Among the four projects, CHANGE stood out as it targeted the community with high cultural, economic and societal barriers associated with women’s education. With the objectives of increasing enrollment, attendance and learning, the project provided learning alternative programmes by training teachers in child- and gender-sensitive education.

Solutions:

The decision-makers in Pakistan need to get their priorities straight. There is a need to set a vision for the positive spillovers of education, a path for implementation partners and the adoption of an active role in the execution of policies.

Governments already have the administrative machinery in place. It is time to utilise the infrastructure and gradually upgrade it. With the help of public-private partnerships, they can penetrate society to the grassroots level, identify the problems and devise targeted approaches for individual districts.

A one-size-fits-all approach might not work. The authorities should be prepared to tailor policies in view of the economic, cultural, societal and religious aspects in all regions. An important part of China’s escape from the poverty trap was the introduction of a nine-year compulsory education policy for all children. Pakistan, too needs a similar policy albeit curated to its socio-economic context.

Like Nigeria, the madrassa system can be used by introducing the approved curriculum and trained teachers.

Since parents in some areas prefer madrassas over government schools, the clerics enjoy greater credibility. They can be co-opted in the effort to reach a significant chunk of students who are out of school. Training teachers in modern pedagogical techniques can ensure that high-quality education is available at the madrassas.

It is essential to involve community leaders to build trust and address any concerns parents might have about incorporating formal education subjects alongside religious studies.

The initiative should be monitored through regular assessments to ensure that learning outcomes are at par with national education standards. By implementing these measures, Pakistan can create a more inclusive education system that respects local preferences while addressing the root causes of the out-of-school children crisis.

Children represent the future of the country. With one-third (36 percent) of them away from literacy, there is an urgent need to introduce reforms. The children should be allowed to dream, be creative and play their hearts out at schools. It is easy to understand the decision to opt out of school. With the opportunity cost including earning a living for the family and an extremely competitive job market, many parents prefer children earning at a young age.

The suggested interventions are gradual processes that require consistency and support from all stakeholders. The situation will not change unless the value of education improves in the eyes of the policy-makers and they recognise the potential positive spillover effects of education.

Faaiz Gilani is a UCL and LUMS alumnus, working at Oxford Policy Management and a co-founder of HamSukhan - a community-based learning platform.

Aamna Babar is a LUMS graduate working as a programme manager at atomcamp.