Education last |
THERE is one question that has been bothering me these days: what message are we sending to our children when their education is the first thing we suspend in times of crisis? We are a country with 26.2 million children out of school, according to data collected in 2021–22 by the Pakistan Institute of Education. In contrast, about 54.7m children are enrolled in schools, with 56.2pc in public institutions and 43.8pc in private schools across the country. Yet, as of early 2026, studies indicate that 77pc of 10-year-olds in Pakistan are unable to read or write at an age-appropriate level. This is further compounded by the reality that 29pc of the population lives below the poverty line.
In a country, where education should be treated as a national emergency, it is deeply concerning that one of the first responses to rising fuel costs is to shift schools to online learning. This raises an uncomfortable but necessary question: why is education the first sector to be disrupted?
Restaurants, shopping malls, cinemas, recreation places and wedding halls continue to function as usual, yet schools are closed on the premise that children consume too much fuel travelling to them. Children commuting in vans, rickshaws, motorcycles, or even........