By our correspondent
PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has launched an ambitious plan aimed at bringing an estimated 4.9 million out-of-school children into classrooms through a coordinated, province-wide enrolment drive backed by detailed data collection and inter-departmental cooperation.
A high-level meeting held at the Chief Secretary’s Office in Peshawar reviewed the proposed strategy, which was jointly chaired by Education Minister Arshad Ayub Khan and Chief Secretary Shahab Ali Shah. Representatives from multiple departments as well as UNICEF also attended the session.
Officials said the initiative will rely on a comprehensive village council–level survey to identify children aged between five and 16 who are currently not enrolled in any educational institution. The exercise will also assess the future schooling needs of children under five, allowing authorities to plan ahead for capacity requirements.
According to officials, the 2023 census estimated that around 4.9 million children in the province are out of school. However, they stressed that updated household and school-level surveys are expected to provide more precise figures, enabling better targeting of resources, budgeting and planning at the local level. The Social Welfare Department will also play a supporting role by identifying and assisting low-income families to help reduce financial barriers to school enrolment.
Education officials said the existing system currently has capacity to immediately enrol around 25 per cent of out-of-school children. Under a proposed 100-day plan, the government aims to bring approximately 60 per cent of these children into schools in the initial phase, while the remaining 40 per cent will require additional resources, expansion of infrastructure and longer-term development planning.
