Education Crisis in Pakistan's KP: Over Five Million Children Out of School

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's Education Department has disclosed alarming figures showing that over five million of the province's children are currently out of school, pointing to a major educational crisis. As reported by Geo News, 37% of KP's children lack formal education, with 4.92 million boys and girls not attending school.

The situation is dire in Kolai-Palas Kohistan, where 80,333 children remain out of school. Neighboring districts, Lower and Upper Kohistan, are also affected, with 79% of children unenrolled in educational institutions. Upper Chitral performs relatively better, with only 10% out of school.

Significant gender disparities exist, especially in Peshawar, where over 500,000 children, including 319,000 girls, miss out on education. KP Education Minister Faisal Tarakai acknowledges the crisis, citing a figure of 4.8 million out-of-school children, while noting government efforts to reverse this trend by aiming to enroll a million more this year.

This regional data is part of a larger national problem, as a pie report indicated that 26.2 million Pakistani children were out of school. This represents 39% of school-aged children, down from 44% in 2016-17, yet the overall number of out-of-school children (OOSC) rose from 22.02 million to 26.21 million due to population growth.

Economic inequality remains a significant barrier, heavily impacting children from low-income families. Notably, 44% of high school students and 60% of upper secondary students do not attend school, with Balochistan facing the highest rates of non-attendance at 65%.

(With inputs from agencies.)