ISLAMABAD (Online): The report of the Federal Ministry of Education has revealed that 26.2 million children in Pakistan are deprived of going to school.
The report has been prepared on the data of 2021-2022, which will be released today on Monday.
The report said that 39 percent of children are not going to school due to various reasons, while 65 percent of children are out of school in Balochistan.
In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 30 percent of children are not going to school. According to the report of the Federal Ministry of Education, 44 percent of children were out of school in 2016 and 2017, while in 2021 and 2022, 39 percent of children were out of school.
If seen at the inter level, 60 percent children are deprived of education while 44%, 30% and 36% children are not going to school at matric, middle and primary level.
With a society that hasn’t gone through the original Industrial Revolution, the millions of children on streets present a challenge to Pakistan which is facing the worst economic crisis in its history amid record-high inflation, shrinking purchasing power and worsening cost of living crisis.
According to the UNICEF, Pakistan enjoys an unwanted distinction of having the world’s second-highest number of out-of-school children, despite the fact that access to education is a basic human right.
The report, which is based on the 2020-21 data, means the current numbers are much higher thanks to the increase in population and economic turmoil.
Punjab tops the list with 11.73 million out-of-school children followed by Sindh 7.63 million, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 3.63 million, Balochistan 3.13 million and Islamabad 0.8 million.
However, the figures have improved somewhat when compared with 2016-17 when the out-of-school children were 44 per cent of their population share. It is 39pc in 2020-21.
So the question is what will the future of these children? In other words, what future we can foresee as a nation?
Another neglected subject is the quality of education, which has been stopping the production of critical minds and skilled workers. Now add this to the out-of-school children numbers and start reasoning about Pakistan’s future.
Until and unless we are ready to introduce a wholesale and holistic set of reforms to the education system, any hopes of a bright future will only remain a dream in the years and decades to come.