73pc girls quit schools after primary education in ex-Fata: report

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JAVED KHAN

PESHAWAR: As many as  73% of girls in tribal districts drop out of  school after completing their primary education, stated by  Mutahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) Member Provincial Assembly (MPA) Naeema Kishwar  in a resolution submitted in the provincial assembly secretariat on Wednesday.
She also revealed in her resolution that an estimated 1.8 million children aged 5-16 are out of school in KP-66% of them are girls.

Citing KP education department data, she shared that 55% of schools in the tribal districts have no electricity, 51% have no drinking water, 30% have no toilets and 18% have no boundary walls.

In her resolution, she emphasized for collective efforts and a major chunk of allocation for education sector in upcoming budget.
All basic facilities including furniture, water, electricity , and boundary walls to be provided on war footing in all the schools of KP she stated.

In her resolution, she further said that around 23 percent of schools in the KP do not have toilets, boundary walls, electricity, and drinking water.

” This House of Government demands that the provision of facilities should be ensured and the education department should be directed to take concrete and effective steps to ensure the provision of these facilities in the coming Fiscal Year 2021-2022 ,” she added.

MPA Naeema Kishwar, the mover of the resolution said “missing facilities in government schools is one of the major causes of girls drop out in KP including the newly merged districts.”

“The upcoming budget for education is thus crucial for many reasons. Government must ensure equitable allocation and spending of budget 2021-2022 to address the challenges for girls’ education especially, which have been further aggravated by the crisis of COVID-19.” She said.

Another resolution was also moved by the 27 lawmakers representing PTI, JUI, and ANP seeking the retention of 70 percent of education development budget allocation for girls’ education in the upcoming budget 2021-2022.

Qamar Naseem program Coordinator Blue Veins said that the upcoming budget needs to take cognizance of education challenges.

 Accord a bigger thrust on augmenting educational opportunities and resources for the girl child, especially at the secondary level he added.

According to the latest Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) survey that in KP the highest ratio of out of school children was recorded at 60pc in Kohistan followed by tribal district Mohmand 57pc, Bajaur 55pc, Torghar 55pc, Waziristan51pcand North Waziristan 50pc.

Primary school enrollment in the province, excluding the merged districts, declined to 67% in 2019-20 as compared to 71 %in 2014-15, said the survey.

Out of school children, the percentage was highest in tribal district Mohmand with 57percent and lowest in Abbottabad with 9 percent, KP district wise data added.