A recent report by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Education Department has exposed the ongoing deprivation of fundamental facilities in over 10,000 government schools across 28 settled districts of the province. These schools, serving thousands of students, continue to operate without basic amenities such as boundary walls, electricity, washrooms, and access to clean drinking water.
According to the data, more than 5,000 schools still lack electricity, over 2,000 are without clean drinking water, and a similar number are missing washroom facilities and secure boundary walls, highlighting severe infrastructure gaps in the public education system.
Among primary schools, 2,211 are without electricity, with the highest concentration found in Mansehra (344 schools) and Upper Kohistan (252 schools). In Upper Kohistan alone, 208 schools lack clean water, while 1,253 schools have no functional washrooms.
The situation is similarly grim in middle schools. Of the 160 middle schools surveyed, 136 have no boundary walls, 71 lack drinking water, and 57 are without proper sanitation. Even in Peshawar, the provincial capital, several schools are affected—21 without electricity, 15 without drinking water, 17 without washrooms, and 8 without boundary walls.
Barrister Muhammad Ali Saif, the provincial advisor on information, stated that the government is aware of these challenges and is actively working to address them. He emphasized that education remains a key priority and that Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur has already issued directives to improve conditions.
He assured that additional funding will be allocated in the upcoming budget to equip all government schools with clean drinking water and proper sanitation facilities. Moreover, the government is considering declaring an educational emergency in districts where over half of the children are out of school.
To fill immediate gaps in educational infrastructure, the provincial administration also plans to establish temporary schools in rented buildings, particularly in areas where the shortage is most acute.
These efforts come in response to troubling figures shared in a prior report, which revealed that approximately 37% of children in KP are not attending school. A staggering 4.92 million boys and girls across the province remain out of formal education.
The crisis is most severe in Kolai-Palas Kohistan, where 80,333 children are not enrolled. Neighboring Lower and Upper Kohistan also show alarmingly high dropout rates, with 79% of children not attending school.
On the other hand, Upper Chitral has emerged as the best-performing district, with only 10% of children out of school.
In Peshawar, more than 500,000 children are not enrolled, including 319,000 girls, highlighting a stark gender disparity in educational access.