KARACHI:
Pakistan has the world’s second-highest number of out-of-school children of which 12 million are girls. Nearly, 44% of the children are deprived of their right to education. This violates the constitutional obligation set out in Article 25A that enjoins the state to “provide free and compulsory education to all children of the age of five to sixteen years”. Even children who are enrolled in schools do not attend schools due to administrative negligence, teacher absenteeism, etc. Over the years, dropout rates have steadily risen.
All this is the result of decades of negligence and poor spending on the education sector by successive governments. Cumulative education expenditures by federal and provincial governments in the fiscal year 2021 remained at 1.77% of GDP. This is among the lowest in South Asia. In addition, the gap between literacy among males and females is consistently widening. Societal taboos, conservative norms, and poor educational facilities are some of the major impediments to women’s education.
Pakistan has repeatedly failed to recognise the emergency it faces regarding out-of-school children. This dire state of education should be treated as a national priority but is largely ignored in national plans and public policies. The government must act to address the issue through a multipronged approach. Some possible solutions include subsidised school fees, interest-free loans, education grants and scholarships to sustain and revive the education sector. Special scholarship programmes or quotas for girls can be fruitful in increasing re-enrolment.
Asim Khan
Kohat
Published in The Express Tribune, March 5th, 2023.
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