Daily Times

Balochistan is the largest province of Pakistan, occupying 43 percent of the country’s land area. It is the lowest-populated province, making up 5 percent of the country’s population. Almost 80 percent of the Baloch people live in small villages – deprived of advanced technologies – not even getting three meals a day.  The government has never taken care of the poor them or asked them about their problems.

Education in Balochistan, for instance, is neglected. Boys have some opportunities available to them, but girls leave their education after passing primary school due to lack of funds and female high schools. Though the literacy rate of women is growing in Pakistan, and improvement has been seen in last few years, the literacy rate among rural women in Balochistan is decreasing day by day. It is shocking that the literacy rate of rural females of Balochistan is less than 2 percent. The girls cook, clean, raise kids and provide domestic support to their husbands and family members. The females themselves prefer household work – being raised that way – and never bother to attend schools due to lack of awareness among them about the importance of education.

The project Mobile Female Teacher Training Unit has been launched to recognize the importance of education for girls in rural areas of Balochistan, raising awareness that girls in rural areas also deserve education and that they can play an essential role in the lives of the rural people. Though the project is playing a significant role in raising awareness, it is losing its desired benefits, because traditional people with low regard for women’s education are handling the program.

Ninety percent of the girls in Pakistan are deprived of schooling. The most neglected parts are the tribal areas of Buleda, Kharan, Bolan and Marri and Bugti, which are deprived of primary schools. Other places have primary schools, but lack high schools. Some places in Quetta also don’t have primary schools. It’s saddening that the out-of-school children end up in bad activities, devastating their careers – the girls getting used for illegal activities to earn money.

The government is responsible for the destruction of the little girls without education in Balochistan. It is not tough for the government to establish schools in rural areas, but why is it unwilling to build schools? The Baloch children want to get education, but don’t have schools to go to. The places where schools are available lack necessary funds, well-defined education policies and teaching staff.

Balochistan is the most backward province of Pakistan in regard to education. If nothing would be done, students will gain nothing, and Balochistan would never be able to succeed in the education sector.