In Balochistan, 60 to 70 percent of youngsters are not attending school, according to UNICEF. Among girls of school age, 78% are not enrolled, compared to 67% of boys. The large distances between the school and the children's houses are one of the key causes of the high number of out-of-school children. Balochistan has primary schools every 30 kilometres, middle schools every 260 kilometres, and high schools every 360 kilometres on average.
This goes on to highlight how important a role mobility and physical distance play in terms of education. When a household does not have access to vehicles, the only way of travel is by foot. To do this from places that are very far apart becomes almost impossible. This is mostly the case when it comes to educational institutions, as these require attendance every other day.
One of the main problems in the education sector in Balochistan comes through infrastructure. Although there aren't many schools in the province, those that exist still don't have things like perimeter walls, drinkable water, or power. According to the research, around 80.50 percent of Balochistan's school buildings are dilapidated. Some of the buildings have cracks that are obvious. Some schools are even without a physical structure.
In such places it is also very difficult to find and keep teachers. A lot of times there are threats of security which make it very difficult for people to stay regular.
The province hasn't been able to raise money for its schools, despite having Pakistan's largest economic project—Gwadar—and being the richest in natural resources. Therefore, government initiative needs to invest in the province and its overall education.
Not only Baluchistan but when the low enrollment of 2 million Afghan refugees was investigated in Pakistan most of them mentioned "travel cost" as an Educational bottleneck.
Maybe with the concept of tech and the online teaching - if focused properly - this might can solve a few problems in these facility scarce regions.
A very important and concerning issue! I think there is an issue with the priorities in governance. I think that’s students not being able to access schools because of poor infrastructure is a shame considering the progress the rest of the world has made. It is something that needs to be addressed on a regional and national level as the future of these children is going to be irreparably affected. There has to be appropriate budget allocation and policy change to address this.
Fatima you have raised a concerning issue. Rarely do we acknowledge how fragmented the educational institutions in Balochistan are. 60-70% of the youth not attending schools is quite problematic and reasons behind the youth not attending schools are not tackled or dealt with in that area. You have highlighted what a great impact distance has on the attainment of education.
As you have mentioned, the educational system in Balochistan faces several challenges and in order to improve the situation the government needs to play a greater role. Perhaps there could be examples provided on what role the government can play to help tackle these challenges.
More reasons for girls dropping out in Baluchistan are varied. Girls drop out of school because, they are engaged in domestic activities, they have financial constraints, they are not interested in education and, they get married in their early ages.
The government needs to organize groups to carry out various education-related awareness campaigns. Before beginning their work on the ground, the teams must get thorough training in order to provide them with the skills necessary to persuade parents to enroll their children, particularly females, in school. Political leaders ought to take part in these programmed as well, which would increase parents' motivation to enroll their kids in school. To encourage students to enroll in schools more frequently, they should also…