May 06, 2025: A recent report by the Education Department of Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province has exposed a deepening education crisis, with over five million children currently out of school. The data indicates that 37% of school-age children in KP are not receiving formal education, with some districts showing even more alarming statistics.
According to Geo News, the district of Kolai-Palas Kohistan emerged as the most severely affected, with over 80,000 children out of school. Nearby regions, Lower and Upper Kohistan, reported similarly dire conditions, where 79% of children are not enrolled in any educational institution.
In contrast, Upper Chitral stood out as the province’s best-performing district, with only 10% of children not attending school.
The report also highlighted a stark gender disparity, particularly in the provincial capital Peshawar, where over 500,000 children are out of school, including approximately 319,000 girls.
KP Education Minister Faisal Tarakai acknowledged the urgent need for reform, stating that 4.8 million children remain outside the education system. However, he noted that 1.3 million children were enrolled last year, with a target to enrol one million more in the current year.
Nationally, the education crisis continues to escalate. The Pakistan Education Statistics Report 2021-22, released by the Pakistan Institute of Education (PIE), revealed that 26.2 million children are out of school across Pakistan, representing 39% of the school-age population—a slight improvement from 44% in 2016-17, but with an absolute increase in numbers due to population growth.
The crisis is most acute in Balochistan, where 65% of children are not in school, while the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) has the lowest percentage.
A major contributing factor, as noted in the survey, is economic inequality, which significantly impacts children from low-income families. Shockingly, 44% of high school students and 60% of upper secondary students remain unenrolled nationwide.