As many as 37% children deprived of education in KP

PESHAWAR: As many as 37 per cent of children in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have been deprived of education, according to a document compiled by the Education Department.

It revealed that the total number of out-of-school boys and girls in KP is 4.92 million.

The document stated that there are 13.13 million children aged between 5 and 16 years in KP. More than 2.924 million girls in the province are out of school, while over 1.999 million boys are also deprived of education, according to the document available with Geo News. In Peshawar alone, over 500,000 children are out of school, including 319,000 girls.

The highest number of out-of-school children-80,333-is in Kolai Palas district.

According to the document, 79 per cent of children are out of school in Lower and Upper Kohistan.

Between 62 per cent and 66 per cent of children are deprived of education in Mohmand, Bajaur, South Waziristan, and North Waziristan districts.

Upper Chitral has the lowest percentage of out-of-school children-10 per cent-according to the Education Department.

When contacted by Geo News, KP Minister for Elementary and Secondary Education Faisal Tarakai confirmed that the number of out-of-school children exceeds 4.8 million.

“The government is making efforts to bring children into schools,” Tarakai said, pointing out that 1.3 million children were enrolled last year. The minister said the target for the current year is to enroll 1 million children in the first six months. “The government is paying full attention to the development of education,” said Faisal Tarakai.