Almost 15,000 additional schools required in KP

For the 4.7 million out-of-school children in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (E&SE) will need to build around 15,000 new government schools.

According to official sources in the E&SE Department, the figure of 15,000 new government schools appeared in the department's internal assessment when it began debating how to enrol 4.7 million out-of-school children and provide them with the necessary educational facilities.

According to a survey performed by the Benazir Income Support Programme, 39% of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's 11.7 million children aged 5 to 16 are not in school, with one million of them living in combined tribal areas.

The number of out-of-school children in the province was estimated to be 4.7 million in a survey done as part of the BISP's National Socio-Economic Registry census with the help of elementary and secondary schoolteachers.

"The State shall provide free and compulsory education to all children aged five to sixteen years in such way as may be prescribed by law," according to Article 25(A) of the Constitution.

According to an educationist, this commitment must be fulfilled in the form of effective schools in a country like Pakistan.

According to the report, the province has 11.7 million children aged 5 to 16, with 1.8 million living in tribal districts. The statistics showed that 74.4 percent of females and 38.5 percent of boys in that age bracket are not attending school in the amalgamated districts.

The percentage of such girls and boys in settled districts was 47 and 27.2 percent, respectively.