The fact that 3.8 million children in Punjab have no access to education is disturbing. The stunning figure was revealed in a reply of the Literacy Department to the query of the Chief Secretary Punjab. The department informed him that it could not singlehandedly provide education to these children. This is despite the billions of rupees pumped into the primary education sector, especially aimed at boosting the enrolment of children of poor families. The department also cited lack of proper buildings for government schools, absence of teachers, lack of free books and other domestic compulsions, which are responsible for low enrolment rate. One major reason not mentioned was the ghost schools that speak volumes about the degree of corruption in the sector and all that is wrong with education in Pakistan. Given this sorry state of affairs, which of course the Education Department is justified to a certain extent in citing as too big a problem for it to tackle, the government must do all it can to take the bull by the horns. It surely is poverty-stricken households, which to eke out an existence in these times of raging inflation, force their children into menial jobs and labour that should be at the centre stage of the ongoing education drive. The CM did well to launch the scheme of Danish Schools across the province. This certainly is no mean achievement given the general lukewarm attitude to education of those who are at the helm. Hopefully, he will also focus his energies on improving conditions in the thousands of government schools that are being neglected and making education accessible to all. Success lies in providing inexpensive and quality education to the millions of children who have not seen the inside of a school. It is very much clear that the Punjab government should devise a roadmap, as emphasised by the Literacy Department. This needs to be done quickly if the primary education sector is to be strengthened in the real sense of the term.