Dismal State: KP Govt Urged To Prioritise Girls’ Education In Upcoming Budget

News Desk

Peshawar: The state of girls’ education in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa is dismal, out of the 4.7 million out-of-school children in the province, around 66 per cent are girls.

Moreover, around 23 per cent of girls cannot reach the level of 10^th grade due to different reasons, including a lack of schools in their respective areas and early marriage. The representatives of the governmental and non-governmental organisations laid stress on the provincial government to keep the education sector among its top priorities in preparation for plans for the upcoming fiscal year 2023–24.

These views were expressed by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Commission on the Status of Women (KPCSW) Director Programme Amina Durrani while speaking at a pre-budget seminar on girls’ education, referring to statistics issued by the Benazir Income Support Programme in 2019.

The seminar was organised by Blue Veins, a non-governmental organisation based in Peshawar, in collaboration with KPCSW and the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa KP Child Protection and Welfare Commission (KPCPWC). The objective of the seminar was to engage stakeholders to expand their agendas for girls’ education and gather input and demands regarding education financing priorities.

“We cannot achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) unless we cover important sectors of education, especially girls’ education,” Amina Durrani stated. Referring to statistics from the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP), Qamar Naseem said that around 52 per cent of girls between the ages of 5 and 16 are out of school in KP.

To accommodate them, the province needs at least 15,000 schools, whereas the provincial government’s capacity to construct 300 schools per year is 300. In its existing capacity, the province needs at least 50 years to enrol these out-of-school children (OOSC), but this is only possible when there is no addition of OOSC. Expressing concern over the current fertility statistics, Qamar Naseem said the KP fertility rate is 4.3 per cent, and if this growth continues, achieving the enrolment target would not be possible in the coming hundreds of years.

Pakistan is bound to spend at least 6 per cent of its GDP on education, but unfortunately, we were spending only 2.4 per cent a few years ago and now only 1.6 per cent.

KPCSW Durrani observed, “The recent floods in the province have had a substantial impact on public sectors, including education. The socio-economic and political crises have compounded the issues and generated widespread challenges in many locations, adding to the strain on education.”

Blue Veins Programme Manager Qamar Naseem stated that early marriages are a significant barrier to girls receiving a proper education. He recommended using a public-private model already used in Sindh province to give as many girls as possible the chance to pursue an education.

KP Elementary and Secondary Education Chief Planning Officer (CPO) Sher Azam Khan apprised participants that the provincial government is giving due consideration to girls’ education, and for the last four years, all new schools have been established with a ratio of 30:70, 30 per cent boys and 70 per cent girls. In KP, there are around 34,780 schools, out of which 20,447 are for girls and 14,333 for boys, he added.

In last year’s fiscal budget, the developmental budget for the education sector was around 227.1 billion, or 17 per cent of the total budget of Rs 1332 billion, Sher Azan stated. In the outgoing fiscal year, the department has so far received 20.4 billion in developmental allocations, which have been utilised at a ratio of 70 per cent (Rs 14.2 billion) for girls’ education and 30 per cent (6.12 billion) for boys’ education. In the Annual Development Programme (ADP), 110 schemes are ongoing for the provision of 5,424 facilities, with a distribution of 3,797 for girls’ education institutes and 1,627 for boys, CPO Azam Khan further added.

The education department has set up girls’ community schools in rural areas of all the districts, with a focus on areas that lack the facilities of government girls’ schools. Similarly, 209 literacy centres have been established which have been functional since 2018. The education department has also chalked out a scheme of Rs 3.7 billion for providing stipends to girls in merged areas from six to twelve years of age.

Senior Planning Officer(SPO) Noor Alam Khan informed that the education department has planned a mega scheme to bring around three million out-of-school children back to school. The program’s estimated cost is calculated at around Rs 94 billion and will be presented at an inter-provincial meeting of the education department to be held in Islamabad in the near future.

Alam Khan mentioned that the solarization of 9,200 schools in settled areas has been completed, while the installation process is in its final stages in 1,100 schools in merged districts. Solarization will also improve the presence of teaching staff in schools because of the full-time operation of biometric machines and will help improve education standards, SPO Khan hoped.

Photo Credit: Qamar Naseem