Daily Times

Perhaps, Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif is an ardent believer in saying the mantra again and again to pound the message home.

The last few months have seen him repeatedly pledge an “iron-clad” resolve to bring back 26 million out-of-school children back to school, declaring an education emergency. Back in May, he had claimed to handle this exactly as he had done during his chief ministership in Punjab.

Today, as he talks about integrating technology, introducing midday meals and enrolment campaigns, and convincing the private sector to join hands, the crux of his agenda still speaks to what is happening in Punjab.

Education in Pakistan has been in a state of crisis for years, fundamentally because of its measly GDP allocations, but the situation varies from region to region. According to a comprehensive analysis of out-of-school children released this month, Punjab accounts for 24 per cent of the children not enrolled in school while census findings in Balochistan underscore a staggering 47 per cent.

A true success story would have aimed to address the significant disparity in this instance, yet the dream of “Parha Likha Pakistan” seems to be slipping away, if figures from the provincial education department are to be believed.

At least 542 education institutions have closed their doors to children since February and more than 3500 schools operate with a bare minimum of infrastructure. Haunted by ghost teachers and literally no money available to run these schools, the government has little to offer other than mumbled platitudes and a perpetual sense of helplessness.

Faring below even the national average, a lot of this abysmal performance has to do with a historic lack of investment and rampant social inequalities. So the next time Islamabad promulgates the issue and talks about decisions taken to increase school enrollment in the fastest way possible, the scope of its lofty target could be questioned. Does advancing the education agenda remain restricted to selected cities? *