The out-of-school children challenge

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
Zulfiquar Rao@Zulfirao1
NOVEMBER 23, 2017
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
NGOs 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 utilised to help poor kids and youth acquire some
reliably employable skills and fill the gap of skilled and trained workmen for Pakistans
industrial and trade sectors can be anybodys 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 Pakistans
industrial and trade sectors can be anybodys 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 Pakistans 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 cant
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,
its 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 countrys nemesis.

The writer is a sociologist with interest in history and politics. He tweets @ZulfiRao and can be
reached at Zulfirao@yahoo.com

Published in Daily Times, November 23rd 2017.