Status of education

It is unfortunate that since 1947 Pakistan has witnessed seven national educational policies, eight five-year-plans and about half a dozen other educational schemes but has nothing to show for it. One can conclude it as the failure of the successive governments. While Article 25A of the constitution calls on the state to provide free and compulsory education to all children between the ages of five and 16 years in such manner as may be determined by the law, the provinces have yet to frame legislation to implement it. Pakistan is facing tremendous challenges in the education sector: around 24 million children are not attending schools at all and the official record shows that this figure has remained mostly unchanged since 2005.

But according to the data that has been made available recently, the number of out-of-school children has dropped from last year’s figure of 24 million to 22.6 million this year. These statistics also show that more than 44 percent of the children between the ages of five and 16 years are out of schools and are forced into child labour. Balochistan has the highest proportion of out-of-school children followed by Fata. Improving the status of enrolment in schools lies at the forefront of Pakistan’s battle to improve education. These facts were revealed in the Pakistan Education Statistics 2015-16 launched by the National Education Management Information System – a subsidiary of the Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training. The government and responsible institutes should impose an educational emergency. Instead of focusing on infrastructural development the government should focus on health and education because these will drive a nation towards progress.

Aleem ur Rehman

Islamabad