Gates opened: 2nd phase of enrolment drive starts today

World Literacy Day will be celebrated across Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa

PESHAWAR: The second phase of enrolment campaign will begin on a propitious occasion – International Literacy Day.

Speaking to The Express Tribune on Monday, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Elementary and Secondary Education Additional Secretary Qaiser Alam said the drive will aim to persuade parents to send their children to school. “The government will not leave any stone unturned to register out-of-school children into schools,” he added.

On (un)equal grounds

Although numerous education drives have been held across the province, at least 50% of girls are still out of school. Moreover, education in the province and in many other parts of the country remains a luxury which is mostly available to boys rather than girls.

A survey report issued by Alif Ailaan titled “Female Education in Pakistan” suggests that a majority of children who do not go to school are girls.

“Out of 25 million out-of-school children, 13.65 million are girls,” reads the survey report.

The report also mentions a series of barriers that prevent girls from getting an education. More often than not, parents are reluctant to send their daughters to school. As a result, 34% of girls in the province do not receive an education. In other cases, some girls are discouraged from going to school as they have to help out with household chores or the school is too far away from where they live.

Overhaul

Speaking to The Express Tribune, Peshawar District Education Officer Samina Ghani said all facilities are available for girls in schools in Peshawar and parents should allow them to get an education.

“A stipend of Rs400 is given to female students in the city and the government is also planning to change the medium of instruction at girls schools to English,” she said. “We have also put advertisements in newspapers to hire women teachers. They will be hired through the National Testing Service system.”

Hiring teaching staff at girls schools is the need of the hour as there are institutes in the city that have been closed down because teachers are not willing to teach. This is largely because teachers are being posted in schools that are situated in areas far from their houses.

While speaking to The Express Tribune, MNA Hamidul Haq has also urged all parents to allow their girls to go
to school.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 8^th,  2015.