KP Launches Major Drive to Bring Out-of-School Children Back
The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has launched a major education initiative in Peshawar aimed at bringing out-of-school children back into classrooms through a coordinated provincial campaign. The move, reported on Saturday, is being presented as a large-scale response to one of the province’s most persistent social challenges.
Under the plan, four government departments will work together to identify children who are not enrolled in school and connect them with formal or alternative learning options. The Elementary and Secondary Education, Local Government, Health and Social Welfare departments signed a memorandum of understanding in the presence of KP Chief Minister Sohail Afridi.
The provincial administration has decided to carry out a door-to-door survey to develop a clearer picture of how many children are outside the education system and where they are located. Officials believe that accurate household-level data is essential before any serious enrolment drive can be planned, funded and monitored effectively.
A briefing on the initiative said a One Map System would be created to track the number and location of out-of-school children across the province. The same briefing highlighted a major gap in existing estimates, noting that census data puts the number at 4.9 million while the education department’s own figure stands at 2.6 million.
The first phase of the campaign has set a target to enrol 60 percent of identified out-of-school children immediately. Authorities also intend to gather data on five-year-old children so that future planning can focus not only on children who have already dropped out, but also on those who are at risk of never entering school.
To expand capacity, the government plans to use public schools, double-shift classes, community schools and digital platforms. This approach suggests that the province is trying to avoid relying only on new school construction and is instead looking to use existing infrastructure more aggressively.
The initiative also includes social support for children who leave school because of poverty. Students may receive scholarships and assistance, but the support will be linked to a 75 percent attendance requirement, a condition designed to improve retention and discourage repeated dropouts.
Skills training will also be offered through the United Nations-backed Generation Unlimited programme, according to the briefing. That component is important because many older children who have remained outside school may need practical learning pathways in addition to standard classroom education.
The scale of the challenge is significant for Pakistan because millions of children outside school translate into long-term social and economic costs. Low literacy, child labour, poverty cycles and weak future employment prospects all become harder to address when children remain disconnected from education for years.
The next phase will depend on how quickly the survey is completed, how accurately departments share data and how effectively local administrations implement the enrolment target. If the campaign is carried out with transparency and sustained funding, it could become a major test case for reducing the number of out-of-school children in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.