Out-of-school children: K-P govt plans to enrol over 0.8m kids

CM expected to inaugurate new campaign today

PESHAWAR: As part of its efforts to tackle the massive number of out-of-school children in the province, the provincial government has decided to set a target of enrolling around 800,000 children in government schools in a fresh enrollment campaign which is expected to kick off on Friday (today).

The enrollment drive is expected to be inaugurated the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Chief Minister Mahmood Khan with a host of non-governmental organisations supporting the campaign. The campaign is expected to continue for the rest of the month.



The enrollment campaign was originally planned to kick off on September 8, World Literacy Day. However, it was pushed back owing to the political engagements of the chief minister.

According to government reports, there are around 1.8 million children who are out-of-school across the province. A majority of them are girls.

Talking to The Express Tribune, the K-P Elementary and Secondary Education (K-PESED) Director Farid Khattak said that all arrangements for the campaign have been completed.

He added that the chief minister will visit the directorate of education where he will formally inaugurate the enrollment campaign.

Khattak said that they are also thankful of the non-governmental organisations who are supporting the campaign and will establish stalls of books and other required equipment for children.



The K-PESED director further said that this time, the district education officers will closely monitor the campaign throughout the month and will struggle to bring every out-of-school children to the classroom.

Noting that it was Prime Minister Imran Khan’s vision to bring each child into school, he said that it will be their mission to convince parents and enrol all out-of-school children.

Khattak added that the appointment of Ziaullah Khan Bangash as the advisor to CM for elementary and secondary education would help promote education in the province. 

Published in The Express Tribune, September 14^th, 2018.