Out of 2.7 million children in Balochistan, 1.9 million are out of school. Many parents do not even know how to educate their children to cope with future challenges. The fact is that a large number of children and youths living in Balochistan are deprived of quality education.
Today, we are breathing in the 21st century – the century of knowledge and competition – where education occupies a significant position in human life. A nation whose adherents will be educated and equipped with modern skills can prevail in the contemporary age. Undoubtedly, education plays a pivotal role in the prosperity of a society. Unfortunately, meaningful and productive education is missing in Balochistan.
If the case of Balochistan is studied in this regard, the findings are shameful especially when Balochistan contributes to financial matters and meets the mineral requisition of Pakistan. This province’s marine life and mineral reserves also play an essential role in the country’s economy. But an influential layer is benefiting from these treasures. Instead, ordinary people are forced to live a life of poverty and unemployment.
Whenever we think about Balochistan, we see unemployment, poverty, lawlessness, people wearing tattered clothes, children struggling to learn in tents that are makeshift schools and many more pathetic scenes. The people of Balochistan are still deprived of the fruits of development, and the province is managing part of the country’s economy with its valuable minerals.
Apart from the precious reserves, the discovered gas from Sui has been supplied to the entire country, but the residents of the same area, Sui and Dera Bugti, besides other cities, have yet to be given this natural blessing. Education and health issues aside, there was no improvement in the living conditions of the residents of Balochistan, who have seen development and prosperity after spending years in this country.
The education sector in particular has become a problem in Balochistan due to a lack of quality teachers and the absence of modern school facilities, which brought the educational system to the brink of destruction. The nation’s development is through the progress of the education sector that makes builders of the community.
Unfortunately, most of the government schools in Balochistan lack basic educational facilities. Instead, hundreds of government schools have ramshackle premises to accommodate the students, and anytime an untoward incident of collapse can take place, which may swallow the lives of innocents. Many schools still need to be provided furniture, including desks to sit on for those students during schooling hours.
Problems, ranging from accommodation to killing merit in libraries or admissions, keep students from the academic atmosphere. Inevitably, the young generation is seen less in educational institutes and more in protest sit-ins.
The greatest need for people in any society is employment, health, and education. In discussed ones, the education problem is vital because the role of education is the biggest in the nations and societies that have developed the communities that can witness history.
In this modern era, developed countries are discovering new worlds and innovating technology, but in Pakistan, the essential things in educational institutes need to be standardized in this age of science and technology.
In terms of education and literacy rate, Balochistan is far behind all the units of the country. The province is the most backward province in Pakistan. According to the UNESCO report, the literacy rate in Pakistan is 58%. The situation of Punjab is better than other provinces. In Balochistan, the literacy rate is lower than in all provinces of Pakistan. Here 87% of women need to learn how to read and write. As far as girls’ education is concerned, the literacy rate is at a dismal level which is merely 13%.
Across Balochistan, 4000 schools exist with no buildings in different villages. Out of 22,500 villages, 12,000 villages have no schools at all. There are around 10,000 ghost teachers appointed in the schools of Balochistan. Those who draw salaries in the name of schooling have never performed their duties at the institutes. Many middle schools are run with only three to four teachers; in many, only one teacher is involved in ensuring the educational process.
Other reasons, they are distanced from the fruits of development and prosperity, which causes the future of Balochistan to be vulnerable. Unless additional rights, the right to quality education, are not provided to Balochistan’s people, the improvement in the situation and dream of progress will be a mirage.
