PESHAWAR:
Nearly 2.5 million children in the province do not attend school. This was learnt at an enrolment walk organised by the Mohmand Community for Education and Development (MCED). The walk, which started at Peshawar Press Club, was planned in collaboration with Alif Ailaan.
Speaking on the occasion, Alif Ailaan’s executive director in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Munir Orakzai told participants at least 2.5 million children in K-P do not attend school. He said 2,200 schools have been non-functional between 2005 and 2014 because of conflicts and natural disasters.
Education is the only development tool which can navigate the province out of its predicament, added Orakzai.
According to the executive director, K-P is vulnerable to all forms of natural disasters and conflicts. This has affected the children of the province as schools have been destroyed or closed down. Moreover, Orakzai added, the absence of toilets, water and basic infrastructure at schools has weakened the standard of education in K-P.
Speaking to The Express Tribune, MCED executive director Fakhre Alam said civil society organisations had approached then K-P education minister Sardar Babak to invoke Article-25A—right to education—in the province. The education ministry had also been asked to allocate funds to renovate schools in the province.
According to Alam, if Article 25A is implemented in K-P, all children who have been forced out of school would be able to gain access to education.
The enrolment walk was attended by a large number of people, including civil society organisations, students, lawyers and teachers.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 14th, 2014.
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Punjab Sind and Baluchistan do not bother about such trivial nonsense. They are kept at the level where poor man's children belong. Education deprives the landlords waderas Makhdooms of essential labour. We have been hearing about forced labour at the Brick Kilns. They are still thriving. Thanks to this Democracy which Nawaz, Zardari, Fazlul, Altaf Hussain and Uchakzai are trying to save.
This tally was nearly 3.5 million last year. Thank God nearly a million out-of-school kids were inducted in schools last year through massive enrolment drive led by Imran Khan himself. But a lot more work is needed. Thousands of schools destroyed in 2005 earthquake, 2010 floods & Taliban terrorism need rebuilding. The task will hopefully be eased by volunteer drives like Tameer-e-School. Still there is lot of room for improvement. Hope PTI will again run enrolment drive this year