PESHAWAR
\nEvery morning, 14-year-old Mustafa Shah weaves his way through the narrow alleys of inner Peshawar, a handcart of vegetables and fruits straining before him.
\nHis face bears the dust of the street and the fatigue of a man far older than his years in hot weather.
\nAfter losing his father to pancreatic cancer, Mustafa abandoned his education to help repay medical loans and support his family of eight in present days of unprecedented price hike in KP.
\n\u201cMy father wanted to see me become a doctor,\u201d he says, eyes brimming with quiet sorrow. \u201cNow I just watch the schoolchildren pass by and think about what could have been as poverty snatched my dreams.\u201d
\nMustafa\u2019s story is a haunting echo of a widespread crisis brewing across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP)– a steep and silent rise in illiteracy, especially among children from marginalized and low-income families.
\nThough less visible than a natural disaster or political turmoil, illiteracy has emerged as a powerful saboteur\u2014chipping away at the province\u2019s hopes for sustainable economic growth and social equity.
\nAccording to data from the Benazir Income Support Program (BISP) survey, over 3.9 million children in KP are out of school.
\nThe gender disparity is stark as 2.9 million of these children are girls in settled districts. The numbers in the merged tribal districts are equally alarming, where one million children aged 5 to 16 years remain unenrolled.
\nSome districts present particularly dire figures such as Palas Kolai \u2013 77% out-of-school children, Upper Kohistan 70%, North and South Waziristan 60%, Mohmand and Khyber 51%, Orakzai and Kurram 47%.
\nIn many of these regions, poverty, cultural constraints, lack of infrastructure, and insecurity continue to deprive children especially girls of even the most basic access to education.
\n\u201cEducation is the backbone of any progressive society. Free education is a constitutional right, not a luxury\u201d emphasized Professor Dr. Muhammad Ibrahim, former Director of Education KP.
\nHe warned that rising illiteracy does not just affect individual futures; it stalls economic productivity, fosters dependency, and undermines social stability. Child labour, like in Mustafa\u2019s case, becomes a necessity for survival but at the cost of long-term development.
\nThe harsh realities are visible across KP where many schools without classrooms, toilets, or drinking water as well as boundary walls.
\nFamilies who can\u2019t afford school supplies, uniforms, or transport, cultural taboos against girls\u2019 education, particularly in tribal and conservative areas are among factors create a negative cycle of poverty that drives dropouts, unemployment and illiteracy.
\nDespite the gloom, the KP government insists it is making strides to combat the illiteracy and students dropout crisis.
\n\u201cWe have launched aggressive initiatives to bring out-of-school children back to classrooms,\u201d said KP Education Minister Faisal Khan Tarakai.
\nHe said key initiatives include1,053 second-shift schools (588 for boys, 465 for girls), accommodating 70,000 students, enrollment of 830,000 children in 2025, Rs 364 billion education budget, with Rs 19 billion reserved for development, construction of 500 new classrooms and restoration of 10 historic schools.
\nTo tackle infrastructure and capacity issues, the province is building 41 new primary and 12 secondary schools, upgrading 54 existing ones, and launching smart classrooms and digital attendance systems.
\nA particularly promising initiative is the Education Card\u2014an integrated solution that offers students access to textbooks, scholarships, stipends, and educational materials.
\nThe teachers licensing program is being introduced to raise teaching standards. Meanwhile, recruitment of 16,500 new teachers and training of 30,000 recent hires is underway.
\nSpecial attention is being given to the tribal areas with.Rs 1.5 billion for 50 new schools, Rs 278 million for school boundary walls and sanitation and Rs 470 million for additional classrooms in two-room primary schools.
\nTo address the gender divide, he said that KP is running 3,553 girls\u2019 community schools under the Elementary and Secondary Education Foundation (ESEF), and 14,150 students are benefiting from online education through the Poha Scheme.
\nFree school bags, stationery, and incentives are being offered to ease the burden on families and encourage enrollment, especially for girls.
\nWhile the efforts are commendable and ambitious, the gap between policy and ground realities remains wide I\u2019m KP.
\nExperts cautioned that unless these initiatives are implemented with rigorous monitoring and community engagement, they may fall short of stemming the crisis.
\n\u201cEnrollment drives must be backed by strong retention strategies,\u201d says Dr. Ibrahim. \u201cBuilding schools is not enough. We must ensure they are functional, staffed, and safe.\u201d
\nChildren like Mustafa represent more than lost opportunities– they are reminders of what\u2019s at stake. Each dropout is a blow to KP\u2019s potential workforce, each illiterate child a missed opportunity for innovation, entrepreneurship, and leadership.
\nFor KP to progress, it must win its war against illiteracy. Otherwise, its economic ambitions may remain trapped in the same stalls and handcarts that have come to define the fate of too many children like Mustafa Shah.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
PESHAWAR Every morning, 14-year-old Mustafa Shah weaves his way through the narrow alleys of inner Peshawar, a handcart of vegetables and fruits straining before him. His face bears the dust of the street and the fatigue of a man far older than his years in hot weather. After losing his father to pancreatic cancer, Mustafa […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-489058","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-peshawar"},"yoast_head":"\n