35pc children out of schools in Balochistan: Minister
Quetta - Approximately 35 per cent children in Balochistan do not go to schools and 15 per cent schools are inactive due to multiple reasons in the province, said Balochistan Minister for Education Abdul Rahim Ziaratwal on Wednesday while addressing a press conference at Quetta Press Club.
The education minister said currently 1 million to 1.1 million children were enrolled in government schools and around 350,000 children were studying in religious seminaries while at least 300,000 children were under study at private schools.
Portraying a dismal picture of out of schoolchildren, Ziaratwal said 35 per cent children still out of schools in Balochistan, but the government was making all out efforts for bringing them to schools.
The minister went on to say that Balochistan was the most backward unit amongst four units of the country in terms of education while Pakistan apart from Nigeria was lagging far behind in education ranking as compared to other nations of the world.
“Still 15 per cent inactive schools exist in Balochistan,” said Ziaratwal and added, “Some of these schools are closed due to tribal feuds and others due to migrations of the respective population.”
Despite declaring educational emergency with allocation of 23 per cent budget for education improvement in 2016-17 fiscal year budget by the ruling Balochistan coalition, government’s efforts could not bear fruits.
He added that 26 districts of Balochistan had been declared the most backward districts while the number of high schools also fell short owing to which children quit acquiring higher education after passing middle class because of having no access to high schools.
To a query, the minister for education said that the provinces had been authorised to form its own Higher Education Commission (HEC) after 18th Amendment, but this could not be compled with so far.