Out of school

This refers to the article, ‘Why children don’t attend school’ (April 17), by Umer Khalid. The article highlights the bleak picture of illiteracy in Pakistan. Out of 50.8 million children, 24.8m are out of school. This gloomy statistic ranks Pakistan the second largest country – after Nigeria – in the world with the most out-of-school children. What are the reasons that contribute to the alarmingly high number of out-of-school children. One believes that factors like poverty, terrorism, location of school, social constraints and early marriages, exorbitant fees, and lack of transportation, play a vital role in further deteriorating the state of education.

According to the country’s constitution, it is the state’s responsibility to provide free education to all children from the age of five to 16 years. The KP government has drafted a bill that will enable the out-of-school children to get free and compulsory education in KP. It is the need of the hour to implement the bill not only in lone region but across the country as well.

Hakimullah Wazir

Islamabad