Daily Times

PESHAWAR: Around 52 per cent of girls between 5-16 years of age are out of schools across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and 21 per cent of boys of the corresponding age group are also out of school in various part of the province. The data was shared by a survey report conducted by Alif Ailaan, a non-governmental organisation, during a post budget review meeting on Thursday at Pearl Continental Hotel in Peshawar.

The Pakistani government has failed to achieve 100 per cent Net Primary Enrollment of Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) for the last 25 years as Pakistan was committed to achieve the target since 1990-91 to 2015. However, only 10 per cent primary enrollment ratio has been achieved so far by the Pakistani government as it was 47 per cent 25 years ago.

Those who participated in open discussion on the education budget review including KP Finance Minister Muzafar Said, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) MNA Hamidul Haq, KP assembly member Ziaullah Bangesh, MPA Shah Hussain Munawar Khan and other stakeholders. Izaz Asif, a public policy and finance expert, who reviewed the state of education in KP in light of 2016-17 budget said that KP government has increased 19.8 per cent education budget. The education budget was increased from Rs.119.8 billion to Rs 143.43billion for education sector in current fiscal year.

He went on to describe that the provincial government had decreased development funds for education from Rs 25.27 billion in 2015-16 to Rs 24.059 billion in 2016-17. In order to meet the issues relating to missing facilities in education institutions across KP, he said the government has also allocated Rs 8 billion for the provision of basic facilities in the current budget.

Interestingly, the PTI-led-provincial government has allocated Rs 99.8 billion for district governments out of total education budget Rs 143.43 billion and the rest Rs 43.4 billion will be spent by the provincial government, he explained.

The recruitment of around 15,000 teachers would be made through National Testing Service (NTS) which would help in provision of quality education in government schools. According to a survey report by Academy for Education Planning and Management (AEPAM) a federal government institution, more than 2.5milion children are out of schools in KP. There are not enough teachers and functional schools to provide quality education for the increasing number of students.

KP Finance Minister, Muzzafar Said in his address said that the provincial government had taken initiatives and around 300 new government schools consisting of six classrooms would be established in parts of province while construction work on several educational institutions were underway. He claimed that more focus has been given to female education as 70 per cent new schools would be established for girls and 30 per cent for boys as part of the government’s decision.

The IMU was giving fruitful results in government departments, according to the KP finance minister. The provincial government, preferred recruitment of teachers and other employment purely on merit policy so that it could address the issues of public. Mr Muzafar said that there were shortcomings in the current education system which needed to be address, adding that through provision of quality education the curse of corruption could be rooted out from society.