Where literacy rate is essential in bringing socio-economic uplift in a country and putting it on the path to development and prosperity, it also indicates the priorities of a particular government it set for the well-being of the masses. In a country like Pakistan where the population has crossed the psychological barrier of 240 million in May this year, and where there are an estimated 22.8 million out-of-school children, the education sector was in dire need of more attention and resources by the authorities concerned.
The Benazir Income Support Program (BISP)’s national socioeconomic registration census report 2021 revealed that 4.7 million children aged 5 to 16 years were out of school in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP). The breakup of the data-informed that 1.38 million male and 2.38 million female students were out of school in KP, while 0.36 million male and 0.65 million were out of school in seven merged tribal districts owing to a lack of educational institutions, poverty, and other socioeconomic barriers mostly caused by population explosion.
The highest percentage of 77 percent was reported in Palas Kolai district followed by 70 percent in Upper Kohistan, 69 percent in Lower Kohistan, 61 in Torghar, 55 in Shangla, 53 in Lakki Marwat, and 51 percent each in Tank and Batagram districts. In erstwhile Fata, around 66 percent of children were out-of-school in North Waziristan, 63 percent in Bajaur, 61 in South Waziristan, 51 in Mohmand and Khyber, and 47 percent each in Kurram and Orakazai.—INP
