PESHAWAR: The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) had pledged that enrolling all children in schools was the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government’s top priority but 1.5 million children were still out of school in the province, according to a latest survey conducted by the KP Elementary and Secondary Education Department. On the other hand, the Pakistan Education Statistics Report 2015-16 revealed that 2.5 million children aged between 5 and 16 years were still out of school in KP. As per the preliminary results of a survey conducted by the KP Elementary and Secondary Education Department in February this year, the total population of boys (primary and secondary, 5-16 years of age) was 3,982,954, with 3,478,002 enrolled and 504,952 out of school. Similarly, the total population of girls in the same age group and category is 3,489,394, with 2,474,975 enrolled and 1,014,419 out of school. According to the survey, the total number of boys and girls in the same category stood at 7,472,348, with 5,952,977 enrolled and 1,519,371 out of school. Viewed by Daily Times, the survey stated that among the number of children of primary classes ranging between the age of five and nine years in the province, out of 2,037,772 boys 1,824,091 were enrolled and 213,681 were out of school. About girls in the same category, the report stated that out of the total population of 1,850,562, as many as 1,439,593 were enrolled and 410,969 out of school. The total population of children in this category is said to be 3,888,334, of which 3,263,684 children are enrolled and 624,650 out of school. In the category of secondary education, the total population of boys aged between 10 and 16 years was 1,945,182, of which 1,653,911 were enrolled and 291,271 out of school. Among girls in this category, the population was 1,638,832, of which 1,035,382 were enrolled and 603,450 out of school. The total population of boys and girls in this category stood at 3,584,014, with 2,689,293 enrolled and 894,721 out of school. When contacted for comments, KP Minister for Elementary and Secondary Education Muhammad Atif neither returned phone calls nor replied to text messages. The breakdown of OOSC in KP is as follows (Source: PES, (Pakistan Education Statistic 2016) page39, Table 1.5) Male OOSC Female OOSC Total OOSC Primary School Level 72,691 372,720 445,411 Middle School Level 222,281 461,464 683,745 High School Level 251,300 374,401 625,701 Higher Secondary School Level 276,783 469,466 746,249 Primary to Higher Secondary 823,055 1,678,051 2,501,106 However, Mian Iftikhar Hussain, former provincial minister and a senior leader of Awami National Party (ANP), said it was strange that the ruling party had claimed to enrol all children in schools. “So far, we don’t know whether the PTI has enrolled all children in schools. The party is in the reverse gear, as most of the children can be seen in the streets because the ruling party could not build primary schools on the same ratio keeping the population growth in mind,” Hussain remarked. He claimed that the provincial government was planning to privatise the government-run schools, which would mostly affect poor students. “Poor children are studying in government schools but their future is at stake if the government implements its plan,” he added. “It is due to our pressure that the PTI cannot take any practical step in this regard (privatisation); otherwise they (government) want to change the status of government-run schools,” he said. He said the enrolment drive could not be seen in the current government’s set-up, as was observed in the past. “There should be a visible surge in children enrolment because now there is enhanced awareness among the people comparatively, and parents are more inclined to educate their kids. But despite all that, children’s enrolment ratio in schools is pathetic,” he said, without elaborating. Member of the provincial assembly (MPA) from Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) Azam Khan said that the government statistics were just tall claims, that too in just papers. “The PTI has declared education and health emergencies, but both the sectors are in shambles today,” he added. He said nothing had been changed for the better in terms of children’s education because today children continued to work at tea stalls and workshops in parts of southern districts such as Kohat and Bannu. He said he was pessimistic that the provincial government would deliver efficiently at the time, considering it could not even perform in its past four-and-a-half-year term. Ibrash Pasha, a Peshawar-based educationist and campaigner for girls’ education, said of the survey released by the KP Elementary and Secondary Education Department that the number of out-of-school children would be high than that reported. However, he said there was some improvement in the overall education sector in the province, but still the government needed to take tangible steps “to reach every district, every town, every village and every home”. “The ratio of female dropout from schools is higher than that of boys because of educational institutions’ distance and other reasons,” he added. The survey stated certain reasons of children staying out of schools, such as lack of interest, poverty, distance/transport, no school in the vicinity, disability and lack of facilities. Pasha said that the KP government had brought changes to the education sector, but there were areas such as districts of Kohistan, Kala Dhaka and Upper Dir where the government did not bring changes to the vital sector. Published in Daily Times, November 1st 2017.