Islamabad: As the new academic year starts in Pakistan, people have been buying books for their children amid higher education-related expenses. Families have reported that enrolling a single child in school costs between Pakistani Rupees (PKR) 20,000 – PKR 30,000, with expenses including first-month fees and purchasing textbooks, notebooks, uniform, shoes and a bag, local media reported.
People in Pakistan have protested against the increasing costs. In addition, 40 per cent shortage of new textbooks is being witnessed in the market this year. Expenses related to school has also increased – uniforms cost around PKR 3,000, cost of school shoes ranges from PKR 2,500 to PKR 5,000 and price of basic quality school bag starts at PKR 1,500, Pakistan’s leading daily The Express Tribune reported.
Price for applying plastic cover to a single book, it stated, ranges between PKR 75-PKR 100. Cost of larger notebooks and registers is between PKR 120 to PKR 130. Increasing paper costs have raised the prices of all types of notebooks, registers, textbooks, drawing books, practical copies and other stationery items.
Parents have also alleged that such rising costs are intentional, aimed at making schooling expensive in order to make children from low-income families restricted to basic education, The Express Tribune reported. Families have contended that education and healthcare is free in many parts of the world, however, education in Pakistan has been made inaccessible for the poor.
Last month, a report revealed that nearly 28 per cent of children in Pakistan, aged between 5-16 years, are out of school. Quite alarmingly, girls are disproportionately impacted as 34 per cent of girls are not enrolled in schools in comparison to 22 per cent of boys. These disparities are more seen in rural regions of Pakistan, especially for girls, where exclusion for education is more, pointing to how gender and geography reduce educational access.
Two-thirds of Pakistanis aged 10 years and above have attended school at some point as access to education remains highly unequal in Pakistan, The Express Tribune reported citing the HIES survey by Gallup Pakistan. Pakistan’s national literacy rate stands at 63 per cent with male literacy at 73 per cent and female at 52 per cent.
Literacy in urban areas stands at 77 per cent compared to 56 per cent in rural areas. While 68 per cent of children are enrolled in primary school, the numbers reduce sharply at higher levels of education. Only 40 per cent study in middle school and around 30 per cent in matriculation.
This sharp drop in the number of students continuing education in schools highlights the challenges faced by them, especially in rural and underprivileged areas, pointing to structural barriers such as safety concerns, school distance, and rising opportunity costs like children age, especially pronounced for rural girls. According to the report, financial pressure, domestic responsibilities and limited post-primary schooling options contribute to children not continuing education in schools. These challenges further increase for girls due to social expectations and early marriage.
(IANS)
