• Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s school exclusion rate rises to 37%.
• Kolai-Palas Kohistan has KP’s highest exclusion rate.
• Over 500,000 children are out of school in Peshawar.

PESHAWAR: A staggering 37% of children in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) remain out of school, according to a newly released document from the provincial education department.

The report paints a concerning picture, revealing that 4.92 million boys and girls across the province are currently deprived of formal education.

The problem is most acute in Kolai-Palas Kohistan, where 80,333 children are out of school. The neighbouring districts of Lower and Upper Kohistan also record alarmingly high rates, with 79% of children not enrolled in any educational institution.

In contrast, Upper Chitral emerges as the province’s best-performing district, with only 10% of children out of school.

The provincial capital, Peshawar, has more than 500,000 out-of-school children, including 319,000 girls, underscoring a major gender gap in education access.

Speaking on the issue, KP Education Minister Faisal Tarakai acknowledged the severity of the crisis, saying that over 4.8 million children are currently out of the education system. However, he noted that the government is actively working to reverse the trend.

“1.3 million children were enrolled in schools last year,” Tarakai said, adding that the target for this year is to enrol one million more. He reaffirmed the government’s commitment to expanding access and addressing disparities in school enrolment across the province.

The KP report comes against the backdrop of a worsening national education crisis. In January, the Pakistan Education Statistics Report 2021–22 released by the Pakistan Institute of Education (PIE) revealed that 26.2 million children were out of school across the country.

This figure represents 39% of Pakistan’s school-age children, despite a drop in the national out-of-school percentage from 44% in 2016–17 to 39% in 2021–22. The absolute number of OOSC, however, has risen due to rapid population growth, increasing from 22.02 million to 26.21 million during the same period.

Balochistan remains the most affected, with 65% of children out of school, while the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) has the lowest rate. KP’s national average was previously estimated at 30%, but the latest provincial figures now show the rate at 37%.

The report also highlights that at the primary level alone, 10.77 million children are out of school nationwide.

Economic disparities are a major factor, with children from the poorest households most affected. Alarmingly, 60% of children at the higher secondary level and 44% at the high school level remain out of school.