Decision to conduct door-to-door counting of out-of-school children in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has decided to conduct a door-to-door census of out-of-school children in the province to make them part of the education system.

In the presence of Chief Minister Sohail Afridi, a memorandum of understanding was signed between the departments of education, local government, health and social welfare, under which the four departments will work under a joint strategy.

It was informed in the briefing that out of about 4.9 million children between the ages of 5 and 16 in the province, 2.6 million do not go to school. A one-map system will be created to capture the exact number of out-of-school children, their locations and other information, with the help of which an effective strategy can be formulated to enroll children in educational institutions.

In the first phase of the project, a target has been set to enroll 60 percent of out-of-school children in schools.

For this purpose, government, community and double-shift schools will be utilized so that educational facilities can be provided to maximum children.

According to the briefing, scholarships and social assistance will be provided to children who have dropped out of school due to poverty, while technical training will also be provided to youth between the ages of 14 and 16 so that they can acquire skills and get better employment opportunities.

Steering committees will be established at the provincial and district levels to monitor the project.

Payment of scholarships to children will be conditional on at least 75 percent attendance, so as to ensure that children remain enrolled in schools and receive regular education.