ISLAMABAD: The public schools in federal capital like the rest of the country observed a sharp increase in the number of out-of-school children in just five years which was a whooping 100 percent amid less than one percent current budgetary allocation for school education while lack of classrooms and teachers prevented 60, 000 children in Islamabad from accessing education.
Pakistan Youth Change Advocates (PYCA) in partnership with the Pakistan Coalition for Education (PCE) recently held a Focus Group Discussion (FGD) with parents, teachers, and local media representatives to understand the issues faced by public schools in rural pockets of Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT), a news release said.
The Article 25-A of the Constitution, which promises free and compulsory education for every Pakistani child between the age of 5 and 16 years, was passed in 2010. In compliance with this law, education across the federal capital in state-run schools was made free. However, almost 13 years since a complete waiver of fees in public schools, the results are far from satisfactory and the federal capital – like the rest of the country – has seen a sharp rise in the number of out-of-school children.
The FGD participants shared a plethora of issues that were impacting both children’s access to formal learning and the quality of education being imparted in the classrooms. “With 80 or sometimes more students in one class, it is not humanly possible to ensure quality. The schools in rural Islamabad urgently need more classrooms and more teachers to ensure that every student receives the teacher’s due attention, ” shared one of the teachers participating in the discussion.
Teachers and parents also emphasized the need to include their input in the budget-making process so that the needs identified at the grass-root could factor into the federal education budget. They also demanded a substantial increase in the school education budget to ensure adequate resources for quality education. They stressed that education should be a priority in the national budget to bridge the educational gap and enhance learning outcomes.
The group highlighted the importance of equitable distribution of resources across different regions, especially in economically disadvantaged areas. They urged the federal government to allocate funds based on the specific needs of each school, taking into account factors such as student population, infrastructure conditions, and teacher-student ratios.
“Of the total education budget in FY 2022-23, 88% of the development expenditure was allocated for higher education while less than 1% was allocated for school education.
This is simply insufficient to meet the needs of a growing population of children of school-going age, ” read a statement attributed to Areeba Shahid, Executive Director of PYCA. “Without a sizable increase in public investment at the primary and secondary levels, there is little hope to resolve education access and quality-related issues that are rapidly contributing to the population of out-of-school children across the federal capital.”