26.2 million Pakistani children out of school: Report

Islamabad: A new government report has revealed that 26.2 million children in Pakistan still remain out of school, local media reported on Friday.

Pakistan‘s Federal Ministry of Education and Professional Training Thursday released the ‘Girls’ Education Statistics and Trends Report 2023-24’ which revealed the number of children who remain out of school, Pakistan’s leading daily ‘Dawn’ reported.

According to the report, 26.2 million children remain out of school, including 3.4 million girls. The report also revealed the funding issues, stressing that Pakistan’s education financing had weakened with the national education share reducing from 13 per cent to 11 per cent and the majority of provinces reducing funding, especially Punjab and Sindh.

The report revealed that 19 per cent of schools were equipped with digital tools. In addition, 23 per cent of schools have installed ramps for specially-abled students; however, schools do not have adequate specialised assistive learning materials, Dawn reported.

“Overall, provinces demonstrated reasonable execution capacity, but declining prioritisation of education remains a key concern,” it mentioned, revealing a shift in Pakistan’s educational landscape.

While launching the report, Pakistan‘s Federal Minister Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui stated that the primary school completion rate for girls had increased 75 per cent to 89 per cent.

The report mentioned that malnutrition remains a continuous challenge and it is negatively affecting physical growth of students with regards to their height and weight.

Last month, a report stated that Pakistan is struggling to afford food and education. A 20-year comparison of household consumption in Pakistan showcases a structural reallocation of funds towards fixing living costs instead of spending it on food, as revealed by a new poll released by ‘Gallup Pakistan’.

Data from the Household Integrated Economic Survey (HIES) reveals that the share of money spent by households on food reduced from 43 per cent to 37 per cent between 2005 and 2025. During the same period, housing and utilities have increased from 15 per cent to a quarter of household budgets, an editorial in Pakistan’s leading daily ‘The News International’ mentioned.

“Gallup analysis finds that, when viewed alongside weaker real incomes and evidence of declining food quantities, this trend likely reflects households cutting back on food consumption to cope with rising fixed expenses, like housing and utilities, rather than food becoming more affordable. This is also not the only analysis to find that Pakistanis are cutting back on food,” it highlighted.

The HIES 2024-25 survey revealed that people facing moderate-to-severe food insecurity had increased from one in six to one in four between 2018-19 and 2024-25, making it harder for residents of Pakistan to survive in the present, and the prospects for the future also do not look bright.

“According to the Institute of Social and Policy Science (I-SAP)’s 15th annual report on ‘Public Financing of Education, ’ families are now bearing the majority of spending on education; a first in the nation’s history. Of the Rs 5.03 trillion total cost of education, household spending accounts for Pakistani Rupees (PKR) 2.8 trillion while the public sector pitches in PKR 2.23 trillion,” the editorial detailed.

The household spending comprises Pakistani Rupees (PKR) 1.31 trillion spent on paying private school fees, PKR 613 billion on tuition and shadow education and PKR 878 billion in other expenses. The disparity comes amid people preferring the private education system for their children and major issues related to the adequacy of the public education system.