Islamabad, 6 May, 2025: A KP Education Department report reveals over one-third of the children are out of school in the province, highlighting deep education challenges.
According to the findings, approximately 4.92 million children in KP—roughly 37%—do not have access to formal education.
The data points to Kolai-Palas Kohistan as the district with the highest rate of out-of-school children, where 80,333 children are not enrolled.
In neighbouring Lower and Upper Kohistan, about 79% of children remain outside the education system.
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By contrast, Upper Chitral stands out as a relatively successful district, with only 10% of its children out of school.
Peshawar has more than half a million children out of school, including over 319,000 girls—highlighting a significant gender divide in education access.
Provincial Education Minister Faisal Tarakai acknowledged the gravity of the situation and stated that the government was taking active steps to tackle the crisis.
He noted that 1.3 million children had been enrolled in schools last year, and the goal for the current year is to add one million more to the system.
Efforts are also underway, he said, to address regional and gender disparities in enrolment.
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The provincial update mirrors national concerns, with PIE reporting 26.2 million out-of-school children across Pakistan earlier this year.
This represents 39% of all school-age children in Pakistan, despite a slight improvement since 2016–17. Experts warn that rapid population growth is offsetting gains in enrolment.
Balochistan has the highest out-of-school rate at 65%, Islamabad the lowest, while KP’s rate has risen from 30% to 37%.
Poverty remains a major barrier, with 60% of higher secondary and 44% of high school children out of school nationwide.
