PESHAWAR: Despite billions of rupees spent on the elementary and secondary education sector in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), more than 4.9 million children across the province’s 35 districts remain out of school.
According to the Digital Population Census, 2023, these children, aged between five and sixteen, include 1.99 million boys and 2.92 million girls.
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Peshawar has the highest number of out-of-school children, with 519,928 affected—200,142 boys and 319,767 girls. Bajaur follows with 292,894 children (113,677 boys and 179,210 girls), while Bannu has 214,143 (90,954 boys and 123,188 girls).
Likewise, in Dera Ismail Khan, 264,567 children (120,201 boys and 144,361 girls) are out of school, whereas Khyber district reports 213,510 (80,749 boys and 132,756 girls).
The census report further reveals that Mardan has 230,969 out-of-school children (97,752 boys and 133,215 girls), while Swat has 294,320 (114,918 boys and 179,386 girls).
Other affected districts include Abbottabad (45,412), Battagram (86,264), Buner (123,628), Charsadda (166,630), Hangu (74,841), Haripur (43,838), Karak (68,993), Kohat (115,836), Kolai-Palas Kohistan (80,333), Kurram (145,470), Lakki Marwat (142,101), Lower Chitral (17,282), Lower Dir (149,533), Lower Kohistan (90,557), Malakand (54,983), Mansehra (111,292), Mohmand (123,082), North Waziristan (160,200), Nowshera (140,214), and Orakzai (73,007).
Similarly, Shangla has 163,716 out-of-school children, South Waziristan 199,491, Swabi 145,589, Tank 81,350, Torghar 38,078, Upper Chitral 4,613, Upper Dir 137,403, and Upper Kohistan 110,054. The majority of out-of-school children in these districts are girls.
According to a survey carried out by the KP’s Elementary and Secondary Education Department at a cost of Rs227 million, more than 1.8 million children were out of school in 2018 across the province.
Four years later, this number increased to 4.7 million, revealed in the results of a census survey carried out under the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) for the year 2021-2022.
The KP Assembly’s Standing Committee on Elementary and Secondary Education recently held a meeting under the chair of Taj Khan Tarand to discuss the issue and assigned the education department to prepare a detailed report on its causes.
HUM News English made repeated attempts to contact KP’s Minister for Elementary and Secondary Education Faisal Tarakai for details on government measures to address the crisis but to avail.
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