• The KP government promises action in the upcoming budget.
• Peshawar schools show serious infrastructure holes.
• Educational emergency planned at worst affected districts.
  

Thousands of children studying in over 10,000 government schools across 28 resident districts in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are still being deprived of essential facilities such as border walls, electricity, laundry room and clean drinking water, according to a report from the Provincial Education Department.

The data reveals significant infrastructure deficiency in the province’s public education sector. More than 5,000 schools are free of electricity, over 2,000 have no provision for clean drinking water, and a similar number of missing proper washing room facilities and border walls.

The report says 2,211 primary schools do not have electricity, with the highest number registered in Mansehra (344) and Upper Kohistan (252). In Upper Kohistan, 208 schools are without clean drinking water, and 1,253 primary schools lack laundry facilities.

Of the 160 middle schools in the province are 136 without border walls, 71 missing clean drinking water and 57 have no laundry room. In the provincial capital of Peshawar, 21 schools are without electricity, 15 missing clean drinking water, 17 have no laundry room and 8 are without border walls.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s information adviser Barristor Muhammad Ali Saif said the provincial government endeavored to tackle the lack of basic facilities in government schools. He noted that education remained a highest priority and that Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur had noticed the question and issued directives accordingly.

He added that more resources would be allocated in the next budget to make sure there was no government school left without laundry room and drinking water facilities.

SAIF also mentioned that districts with over 50% children outside the school would see an educational emergency declared. In areas with an urgent need for school facilities, the government intended to establish schools in rented buildings to bridge the gap.

These endeavors come on the basis of alarming figures recently released by the Provincial Education Department, which shows that 37% of children in KP remain out of school.

The previous report paints a picture and reveals that 4.92 million boys and girls throughout the province are currently deprived of formal education.

The problem is most acute in Kolai-Pala’s Kohistan, where 80,333 children are out of school. The nearby districts of the lower and upper Kohistan also detect alarmingly high rates, with 79% of children not enrolled in any educational institution.

In contrast, Upper Chitral emerges as the province’s best priesting district with only 10% of children out of school.

The provincial capital, Peshawar, has more than 500,000 children outside the school, including 319,000 girls emphasizing a large gender gap in educational access.