Around 26 million children are currently out of school in Pakistan, making this an education emergency. This situation leads to an increase in child labour, high poverty levels, long-term unemployment and social instability. The government is working on this problem but faces systemic challenges such as a lack of schools in rural areas and insufficient financial support that prevent children from accessing education.
Families prioritise tubewells over textbooks. There is a need for quick action. Provinces must convert ghost schools into community centres, link solar subsidies to school enrolment and triple non-formal education funding. Tomorrow’s generation cannot wait.
Hamna Imran
Sargodha
