Hammal Zahid
Balochistan, the most neglected province of, suffers from inattention from the government. Although the province is believed to be the richest vis-à-vis the natural resources, it still remains the most undeveloped region of the country, with education, according to Education and Professional Teaching, being dubbed as one of the most worrying question of the citizens owing to a growing number of out of school children. A report reveals that Pakistan stands second, and only after Nigeria, as the country having most out of school children, with Balochistan being the ‘home’ for not-going-school children in the country. The only reason why Balochistan has always the highest ratio of out-of-school children is that Balochistan’s government(s) have continuously been neglecting the decades-long-dwindling education system of the province. There has never been sincere efforts in enrolling more and more children to schools so as to boost up the already sinking literacy rate of the province. The figure of 1.8 million out-of-school children, as social workers say, is projected to increase by next year. It must be noted that Balochistan has around 13,000 government-run schools, 2,500 of which are for girls and the other 10,500 for boys respectively. Most of these schools lack infrastructures, such as boundary walls, lack of electricity, toilets and, most importantly, hygienic drinking water which raises the question of what the Balochistan government(s) have done to provide quality education to every Baloch youth. Even the number of qualified teachers is far too low. One can often see one teacher attending a class of far too many students under trees since there is a shortage of classrooms.According to the recent estimation of the International Labor Organisation (ILO), 10 million children are child labors and, according to estimates, 38.4 percent of the youth are illiterate in Pakistan. On top of that, illiterate youth and children both are obstructions to progress and peace in Balochistan. The provincial government started the National Testing Service (NTS) which aimed to give academic opportunities to students based on merit. Unfortunately, the programme could not be properly executed because of a lack of teachers. The Balochistan government has claimed that it is giving priority to the education sector. It has also allocated Rs. 50 million for teachers’ salaries, however, teachers remain absent from the schools. It seems as if these teachers only exist on examinations.Last year, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) was made responsible for investigating embezzlement in the Balochistan’s educational system. NAB took action against 400 teachers who had used fake certifications to get jobs in schools, but this will not fix the province’s education-related woes. During my recent visit to my own native village, Kolahoo, I found the boys and girls high schools in shabby conditions. On my query, one of the students told me that they were not interested in studies because they could easily solve the papers through cheating. While another student said-cum-asked, “Of what use is education to us?” Karim, son of a farmer in the village, has a very vigorous desire to get an education but unfortunately, he is a pauper. One more of the farmers in the village said that he had a son, Amin, who had clinched the first position in his first grade, but has never gone to school. He has been addicted to drugs and snatches mobile phones, wallets and other crimes which are common in the village due to illiteracy.Another little girl, Isra, after passing her fifth grade, was forced to stop pursuing education because there was only a single primary school in her village and that she had to go to Tump, a nearby town, for her higher education, but her parents were very poor and both of them worked. So, she got no one to drop and pick her from nearby government secondary school. There are more than hundreds of thousands of Baloch who want to pursue education but nothing to avail around the corner. Despite Article 25-A of constitution of Pakistan quotes, “The state shall provide free and compulsory education to all children aged five to 16 years”, the state fails to provide education to its youth. The law is quite adequate but has been neglected and thus child labor is piling up rather than coming to an end. Above all, Balochistan government does not only need to provide free education but also free uniforms so that the poorest citizens can also receive at least a basic education. On account of unaffordable uniforms, many children have been expelled from schools, resulting in mind-boggling illiteracy.
