Pakistan's Education Crisis: Why 60% of Girls' Schools Remain Shut

"I paid a surprise visit to the office of the District Education Officer (women) and found her and most of the staff absent from duty," Additional Deputy Commissioner Khurram Khan Jadoon told reporters, Pakistan's leading daily Dawn reported.

He said that the inspection was conducted on the directives given by Deputy Commissioner Tariq Ali Khan, noting that he had informed him (DC), who would send a comprehensive report to the commissioner of the Hazara division and then to the chief secretary for legal and administrative action.

Jadoon further said, "The DEO was absent from her office, and the overall situation of her office was disappointing. I have already submitted a comprehensive report highlighting deficiencies in the women education department for necessary remedial measures."

Stressing that the condition of girls education in Upper Kohistan alarming, he said, "The entire district has only one high school for girls." The official said there are 111 government primary and middle schools for girls in the district, of which 48 are functional while rest remain shut or non-operational.

"A total of 354 teaching posts have been sanctioned in Upper Kohistan, but only 106 are filled, while 248 positions remain vacant, depriving hundreds of girls of their constitutional right to education," said Jadoon. He added that only two out of sanctioned eight posts of Sub-Divisional Education Officers (SDEOs) and additional SDEOs have been filled so far.

Earlier this month, a report citing sources claimed that the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government had virtually discontinued a programme of giving stipend to girl students studying in government schools as it did not pay the money to them during the past three years.

The stipend programme for girls was implemented by the provincial government formed following the elections in 2008 and led by Awami National Party primarily to retain enrolled girls, increase their attendance and decrease dropout ratio, Dawn reported.

According to sources in elementary and secondary education department, the department required Pakistani Rupees (PKR) 3.8 billion each year to give stipend to 600,000 entitled girl students in the province. However, they said that official documents demanding release of money was shuttling between finance and education departments for the past three years.

They said that PKR 200 was given to each girl from sixth class to 10th class under this program. However, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government in the province stopped paying the stipend to girl students since 2022-23.

- IANS