Islamabad, March 18 (IANS) Nearly 28 per cent of children in Pakistan, aged between 5-16 years, are out of school. Quite alarmingly, girls are disproportionately impacted as 34 per cent of girls are not enrolled in schools in comparison to 22 per cent of boys, local media reported on Wednesday.
These disparities are more seen in rural regions of Pakistan, especially for girls, where exclusion for education is more, pointing to how gender and geography reduce educational access.
Two-thirds of Pakistanis aged 10 years and above have attended school at some point as access to education remains highly unequal in Pakistan, Pakistan’s leading daily The Express Tribune reported citing the HIES survey by Gallup Pakistan.
Pakistan’s national literacy rate stands at 63 per cent with male literacy at 73 per cent and female at 52 per cent.
According to the Express Tribune report, literacy in urban areas stands at 77 per cent compared to 56 per cent in rural areas. While 68 per cent of children are enrolled in primary school, the numbers reduce sharply at higher levels of education. Only 40 per cent study in middle school and around 30 per cent in matriculation. This sharp drop in the number of students continuing education in schools highlights the challenges faced by them, especially in rural and underprivileged areas, pointing to structural barriers such as safety concerns, school distance, and rising opportunity costs like children age, especially pronounced for rural girls.
According to the report, financial pressure, domestic responsibilities and limited post-primary schooling options contribute to children not continuing education in schools. These challenges further increase for girls due to social expectations and early marriage, the Express Tribune reported. According to the report, the province of Punjab has the highest literacy rate in Pakistan with 66 per cent while Sindh stands at 61 per cent. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s literacy rate is 55 per cent while Balochistan has just 43 per cent literacy rate.
–IANS
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