Pakistan is the second country after Nigeria where the number of out of school children is at the highest.
Only in four districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa including Peshawar there are around 36,000 children who are beiung forced to work as child labours and are not attending schools.
This was said in a program on the briefing session on the Right to Education with the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Provincial Assembly Standing Committee on Elementary and Secondary Education organized by Pakistan Coalition for Education in a local hotel on Tuesday.
During the discussion the participants said that after the 18th amendment, Article 25-A was passed by the Provincial Assembly but still it was not implemented, adding that 99 percent budget of education is being spent on salaries while only one percent budget is being spent for the promotion of education in the province.
On the occasion Committee Chairman, Standing Committee on Elementary and Secondary Education Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Mohammad Arif said that the government is very serious to implement the Article 25- A as well as the Chief Minister has already directed him to tackle this matter with finance department and implement it as soon as possible.
On a quarry about the curriculum, he said that anyone who had some reservations in this regard could send suggestions and any quarries about the curriculum which will be answered.
Standing committee on Education has still not received any application about the curriculum changes, he added.
Mr. Malik Masood Research and Advocacy coordinator, center for governance and public accountability said that Pakistan is the second country after Nigeria where most of the children were out of schools, adding that the government were spending more expenditure on the students in government schools in Abbottabad, Chitral, D. I. Khan and Bannue while less spending money were spending on the students in Upper Dir, Buner, Swat, Hangue and Lower Dir.
He further said that 99 % budget of education sector were going in salaries while only one percent were spending on education, adding that it should be at least 40%.
On the occasion Dr.Khadim Hussain Managing Director Bacha Khan Education Foundation said that in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa around 2.5 million children were out of schools, adding that 36,000 were those children in five district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa who were forcefully became the child labor.
He added that in 2011 language promotion act was passed from the provincial assembly while child protection bill was also passed; adding that still in district level no child protection unit was established. Khadim Hussain said that according to the Article 25-A the government should give free education from the age of five to sixteen years but still this act was not implanted in the province, adding that the government should also give priority on the training of teachers in education sectors.
On the occasion Zareen Zia member of the standing committee on education, Dr. Shafi Afridi Chairman Board of Elementary and Secondary Education Peshawar, National Coordinator, Pakistan coalition for education Zehra Arshad were spoke.