Aneesa Haroon drops off her tattered school bag at her rural home in Pakistan and hurriedly grabs lunch before joining her father in the fields to pick vegetables. The 11-year-old’s entry into school at the age of seven was a negotiation between teachers and her parents in her farming village on the outskirts of Karachi. “Initially, many parents were not in favour of educating their children,” headteacher Rukhsar Amna told AFP. “Some children were working in the fields, and their income was considered more valuable than education.” Pakistan is facing a severe education crisis, with more than 26 million children out of school, the majority in rural areas, according to official government figures — one of the highest rates in the world. This weekend, Pakistan will host a two-day international summit to advocate for girls’ education in Muslim countries, attended by Nobel Peace laureate and education activist Malala Yousafzai. In Pakistan, poverty is the biggest factor keeping children out of classrooms, but the problem is worsened by inadequate infrastructure and underqualified teachers, cultural barriers and the impacts of climate change-fuelled extreme weather. In the village of Abdullah Goth on the outskirts of Karachi, the non-profit Roshan Pakistan Foundation school is the first in decades to cater to the population of over 2,500 people. “There was no school here for generations. This is the first time parents, the community and children have realised the importance of a school,” said Humaira Bachal, a 36-year-old education advocate from the public and privately funded foundation. Still, the presence of a school was just the first hurdle, she added. Families only agreed to send their children in exchange for food rations, to compensate for the loss of household income that the children contributed. ‘Education emergency’ In Abdullah Goth, most children attend school in the morning, leaving them free to work in the afternoon. “Their regular support is essential for us,” said Aneesa’s father, Haroon Baloch, as he watched his daughter and niece pick okra to sell at the market. “People in our village keep goats, and the children help graze them while we are at work. After finishing grazing, they also assist us with labour tasks.”