Pakistan - The out-of-school children challenge

By Zulfiquar Rao

We are wrong if we think we can continue running this country the way we have so far without the risk of some fatal blow to its geography, economy, and democracy.

On the face of it this might not look frightening but as many as 22.6 million of children between five and 16 years of age are out of school. Just to assure you these figures are not from some NGO’s agenda-driven survey or research but very much from National Education Management Information System (NEMIS) — a subsidiary of the Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training.

The number of out of school children constitutes as much as 44 percent of the said age bracket. Those who luckily get enrolled at schools find it hard to continue. Of all the children enrolled in primary schools in Pakistan, 69 percent are retained until class 5 and only 28 percent until class 10. These are rounded statistics on national level; needless to say, the situation in different regions of the country such as FATA, KP, Balochistan and the interior of Sindh is far worse than this.

Just imagine what kind of workforce or human resources this generation of children will form around 2030 when they will be between 18 and 29 years. Most likely they will end up as unskilled labour and in the most favorable estimates, some of these might become no more than partially trained semi-skilled workers. But the great majority will only add to poverty and millions of food insecure empty stomachs. Developing countries have all faced this kind of problem; and certainly, not the entire population anywhere in such economies has been able to go and pass university level education. Yet, governments in countries such as Vietnam, Indonesia and Thailand had alternative plans to offer better chances of acquiring skills and earn better livelihoods to those sections of population which faced economic challenges while getting formal education.

''We have been hearing of national and provincial bodies on technical education and vocational training. But how effectively have these been utilized to help poor kids and youth acquire some reliably employable skills and fill the gap of skilled and trained workmen for Pakistan’s industrial and trade sectors can be anybody’s guess.''

We have been hearing of national and provincial bodies on technical education and vocational training. But how effectively these have been utilised to help the poor kids and youth acquire some reliably employable skills and filling the gap of skilled and trained workmen for Pakistan’s industrial and trade sectors can be anybody’s guess. Of the total, just over 3500 TEVT institutes in public and private sectors as many as 2300 are located in Sindh and Punjab, which are already well off regions compared to rest of the country. Ironically, we have ten times more Madaris (religious seminaries) in the country inculcating an austere and intolerant version of Islam to over 3.3 million students in complete absence of any vocational skills.

According to an estimate by National Vocational and Technical Training Commission, the annual demand of TVET graduates in Pakistan’s industrial sector is around 950,000, whereas the capacity of existing TVET institutes across Pakistan is not more than 350,000. So we have not only been unable to provide an alternative route to education and training to those who can’t afford to opt for a more formal schooling and education, but are also failing our industrial demand for trained workmen. With the arrival of CPEC and expected increase in demand for trained and skilled professionals, Pakistan needs an appropriate national plan for increase in vocational and technical workmen. Our current TVET infrastructure and thinking hardly match the needs of both supply and demand sides.

The democratic governments, that so tirelessly boast of being the representatives of the downtrodden masses, owe so much to this section of population which is the largest element in bringing them to power and which finds technical education more concrete and quicker means to improve their worsening socio-economic conditions. Investments into the skills development of the poor offers most profitable national dividends as it reclaim those who are at risk of falling into the vicious circle of poverty for being left out from formal schooling and education system. Keeping in view the internal security challenges and rise of religious extremism in the country, it’s imperative that those sections of population which are socio-economically unable to afford going to schools are incentivised to keep them from attracting towards extremism.

We are wrong if we think we can continue running this country the way we have so far without the risk of some fatal blow to its geography, economy, and democracy. With an annual population growth rate of 2.4 percent, we will be around 250 million by 2030. Imagine that if the 44 percent of our children who are currently out of school continue to be not only out of school but also without an alternative means to acquisition of technical skills and vacations. Undoubtedly, we will be facing a frightening scenario as a nation because unskilled workforce perpetuates not only unemployment, poverty, low human development indicators, but also vulnerability to socio-political instability and disorder which, seen in geo-political context, may be exploited by the country’s nemesis.