Punjab’s education crisis deepens as millions remain out of school

Islamabad: Punjab continues to face a severe education access challenge, with official and international data indicating that millions of children in the province are still not attending school despite repeated enrolment efforts and administrative interventions.

Official education statistics cited thousands of government schools are operating across Punjab and millions of students are enrolled, yet around 9.6 to 9.7 million children remain out of school, the highest number among all provinces. UNICEF and the Pakistan Institute of Education have also reported that more than 25 million children across Pakistan are out of school, with Punjab accounting for the largest share.

Multiple barriers to schooling

Poverty, inflation, teacher shortages, weak school infrastructure and the financial strain on households have emerged as major obstacles to education in the province. Former provincial education minister Imran Masood said economic hardship in rural areas is pushing many families to send children to work instead of classrooms.

Attributing the trend to worsening household conditions, Masood said: "Many families struggle to meet even daily food and household expenses, making educational costs impossible to bear. Girls are especially affected as they often leave school because of domestic responsibilities, early marriages, and social restrictions."

He further said the out-of-school population in Punjab broadly falls into two groups: children who leave studies after primary or middle school, and those who never enter the education system at all. "There are mainly two categories of out-of-school children in Punjab. The first includes students who study up to primary or middle level and then leave education, while the second includes children who never enroll in school at all. Many parents lack awareness about the importance of education and prefer their children to contribute financially to household income. In several rural areas, schools are located far away and transport facilities are unavailable, making access to education difficult. Some children become overage and are later denied admission."

In urban centres, private school fees remain beyond the reach of many low-income and middle-income families, while in rural areas some communities still do not have schools nearby.

Infrastructure and governance concerns

Thousands of schools in Punjab are functioning with only one teacher responsible for the entire institution. Many schools also lack electricity, clean drinking water, furniture, toilets and computer laboratories. In some instances, school buildings were described as unsafe for children.

Parents have also raised concerns over the standard of teaching in government schools, saying students are not receiving adequate learning opportunities. Masood said the crisis cannot be explained by poverty alone and pointed to administrative weaknesses as another major factor. "Weak administration, teacher absenteeism, political interference, poor monitoring, and insufficient educational budgets are worsening the situation," he said.

Attendance monitoring under scrutiny

Education expert Rana Liaqat said school attendance is being tracked through the School Information System, but argued that the digital mechanism has also affected attendance reporting.

"Under the system, attendance must be uploaded online within a fixed time limit, after which entries cannot be made," he said.

Attendance data collected from 37 districts of Punjab showed more than 9.6 million students are registered up to grade 10. However, attendance figures from April 21 showed that only around 370,000 students were marked present, while hundreds of thousands were absent and millions had no attendance recorded. The highest number of missing students was reported in Lahore and Khanewal.

Government response and expert recommendations

The provincial government says it has started enrolment campaigns, teacher recruitment, digital monitoring and public-private partnership initiatives to bring children back into the education system. Officials have claimed that millions of children have been re-enrolled and that teacher training is improving.

Even so, education experts said these measures remain insufficient. They called for more schools in rural areas, scholarships for poor families, a reduction in teacher shortages, improved infrastructure and awareness campaigns highlighting the importance of education. They also stressed the need for strict action against child labour.

Experts warned that unless children are provided quality education, safe learning spaces and modern facilities, the crisis could worsen further, with broader economic, social and security implications for Punjab and the country.