Pakistan: Petition filed against education department due to lack of textbooks in Sindh government schools

Students of government schools in Sindh are still waiting to receive textbooks from the government two months after the academic year began, Pakistan-based ARY News reported.

A petition has been filed in the Sindh High Court against the Education Department over the non-availability of textbooks in government schools.

The petition was filed against the chairman and education secretary of the Sindh Textbook Board as well as the directors of primary and secondary education.

According to ARY News report, lawyers representing the case said that most of the schools in Sindh are waiting to receive textbooks from the Education Department.

Earlier this year, the Karachi-based Sindh High Court (SHC) had ordered the Education Department to reopen government schools within two months that were closed due to lack of necessary resources, the report said.

The court issued the directive after Sindh High Court Justice Salahuddin released a report highlighting the worrying condition of government schools in the province, ARY News reported.

According to the report, judicial magistrates visited 19 different districts of Sindh and found that 2,640 schools were closed because they did not have necessary resources such as teachers and furniture. Sanghar district was reported to be the worst affected, with 438 government schools closed, the report said.

Meanwhile, Pakistan is currently facing a significant education crisis, with 25.3 million children aged 5 to 16 out of school, representing 36 percent of the country’s school-going population. Furthermore, rural areas are particularly hard-hit, with enrollment declining the most.

Based on Census 2023 data, the report published by the Pak Alliance for Maths and Science (PAMS), “The Missing Third of Pakistan”, has shed light on the shocking reality of out-of-school children (OOSC) in Pakistan, which is the first comprehensive analysis of OOSC at the tehsil level, reports The Express Tribune.

The report reveals a significant problem in Pakistan’s education system, noting that the majority of Pakistani children, 74 per cent, live in rural areas. Limited access to schools, poverty and social barriers hamper efforts to increase enrolment in these areas, reports the Express Tribune.

The data also revealed that the rural-urban divide in education is growing, with nearly 18.8 million out-of-school children living in rural areas. The report further states that children aged 5 to 9 are particularly at risk, with 51 percent of them having never attended school.

Worryingly, 50 percent of children have either dropped out of school or are no longer attending school. These initial shocks are expected to have a long-term impact on Pakistan’s literacy rate as basic educational skills are primarily acquired during this period.

Delay in enrolment is also a major issue, especially in rural communities, where economic conditions and limited resources prevent many children from attending school. Gender inequality further aggravates this crisis, reports the Express Tribune.

The report says that 53 per cent of children not attending school are girls, and the problem is particularly severe in rural areas, where female literacy rates are already low.

The report also highlights that, particularly in some tehsils of Pakistan, 80 percent of girls aged 5-16 have never attended school, highlighting deep gender inequalities in access to education.