Pakistan’s Lost Generation

Asem Mustafa Awan

Islamabad: In the scorching summer heat of Islamabad, a young boy shoulders a heavy metal cart filled with water cans. This daily chore replaces what should be a morning in school—his future traded for survival. This child is not an exception but part of a vast, silent exodus of youth from classrooms to labor.

Across Pakistan, over 22.8 million children aged 5 to 16 are out of school, placing the country among the worst globally for education access (UNICEF, 2024). Behind closed doors and dusty lanes, the promise of learning has become a distant echo. Families, struggling with poverty and worsening water scarcity, often send their children to fetch water or earn a few rupees instead of pursuing an education.

The water crisis adds another grim layer to this narrative. India’s suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty, a decades-old agreement brokered with the World Bank, has disrupted river flows into Pakistan, intensifying shortages in both rural and urban communities. Children now push heavy containers across blistering pavements—not out of choice, but necessity.

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Pakistan’s literacy rate hovers around 63%—with male literacy at 68% and female literacy at 53% (Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, 2023). These numbers, based on minimal functional literacy (like the ability to read a simple sentence), mask deeper structural failures.

In underserved areas, dropout rates are high, and access to secondary schooling remains elusive. Girls in particular suffer, with nearly two-thirds of school-aged girls in rural Pakistan out of school (UNESCO, 2023).

What is unfolding is not merely economic hardship—it is a humanitarian crisis. The image of the child with the handcart stands as a portrait of lost opportunity, a reflection of generations failed by a system that rewards privilege and punishes poverty. It reveals a deeper injustice, where those least responsible for failure are made to bear its greatest burden.

Pakistan spends less than 3% of its GDP on education—well below international benchmarks (World Bank, 2023). Meanwhile, 45% of children under five suffer from stunted growth, a tragic consequence of both chronic malnutrition and limited access to early learning and health (UNICEF Nutrition Report, 2024). The two crises—educational and nutritional—are tragically interlinked, each reinforcing the other.

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This child is not alone. He is one of thousands who push carts instead of pencils, whose days are consumed by chores instead of chapters. Until these children are placed in classrooms, Pakistan’s talk of reform remains hollow. The constitutional promise of free and compulsory education under Article 25-A remains unfulfilled.

The crisis demands more than policy tweaks. It calls for targeted investments: mobile classrooms, school meals programs, safe water access, and gender-focused education campaigns. Education must be funded not as a formality, but as a national emergency. Local governments must be empowered to identify out-of-school children and bring them back, one child at a time.

Until then, Pakistan’s future remains muted. These children—this lost generation—deserve not pity, but policy. They deserve not a handout, but a rightful seat in school. The time to act is not tomorrow. It is today—before this generation disappears in the shadow of another crisis we chose not to confront.

The article is the writer’s opinion, it may or may not adhere to the organization’s editorial policy.

Asem Mustafa Awan has extensive reporting experience with leading national and international media organizations. He has also contributed to reference books such as the Alpine Journal and the American Alpine Journal, among other international publications.