'Despite all odds, I am going to school every day'

Wearing a traditional purple scarf with a red bandage tied on her forehead, eight-year-old Parveen Manzoor is desperate for every child in her dusty village to enroll in school. Parveen, herself, is fortunate enough to be studying at a girls’ school in Sara Ghurgai, a town located north of Quetta. “Despite all odds, I am going to school every day,” Parveen says. Parveen’s determination is commendable as Balochistan struggles to educate its children. According to officials in the province’s education department, 2.3 million boys and girls in Quetta and 32 other districts across Balochistan remain deprived of this fundamental right. Speaking to Dawn.com on the issue, advisor to the chief minister on education Sardar Raza Muhammad Bareech says, “Children from 10,000 settlements are currently deprived of schooling.” Some organisations are taking initiative on the issue realising the importance of education to counter extremist tendencies and overcome growing radicalisation. One such initiative is by the Pashtoonkhwa Students Organisation which aims to combat terrorism in Pakhtun-dominated areas by improving education levels. In line with their objective the organisation launched a month-long campaign encouraging families to enroll their children in school. Parveen also took active part in their rallies. “Even on the street where my house is, a number of children are not going to school,” Parveen says hoping her efforts will change their mind. There are some encouraging developments. Chief for the organisation’s Balochistan chapter Kabir Afghan says, “thousands of girls and boys have enrolled into schools (as a result of the campaign).” Like Parveen, young Saima also took part in the rally. “We want education,” she firmly stated, joining her friends in chanting slogans at the rally in Sara Ghurgai, she shouted: “We want a teacher in every class”, “every child in school” and “a school in every village.” To lend their support and show solidarity with the initiative, a large number of local tribesmen also participated in the rally actively convincing parents to send their children to school. Claims and counter-claims Financial, as well as social factors appear to be the main obstacles in the remote-areas of the province. According to the 1998 census, there were a total of 22,000 settlements across Balochistan. In comparison, the Balochistan Education Department put the number of government-run primary, middle and high schools at 12,600. “Most schools in the province are ghost schools,” Afghan says. Over 1,000 schools either have no boundary wall and in a number of instances no ceiling as well. The lack of a proper infrastructure exposes children to rainfall, as well as harsh weather during winter says Secretary for Education Ghulam Ali Baloch. In addition, most of schools have no drinking water and no toilets. “We are unable to provide all facilities to schools due to insufficient resources,” Bareech explains. During the last three months, despite their limitations he says, the department was able to make 300 schools functional. This was possible as for the first time in the history of the province the government led by Dr Abdul Malik Baloch has allocated 24 per cent of the provincial budget for education. “We are determined to educate our new generation,” Dr Malik Baloch told Dawn.com. Baloch’s determination is noteworthy but there are several key factors impeding his success which need to be tackled simultaneously. The law and order situation in the province is of prime concern as is the need for better governance. The government claims to have increased student enrolment during the academic year 2014 but a large number of children are still out of school. “Forget about the quality (of education), our children are deprived of even primary education,” Afghan says, adding that one of the main objectives of the Pashtoonkhwa Students Organisation was to enable the students to read and write. Other stumbling blocks Quality education in Balochistan is merely confined to a handful of educational institutions which are expensive and located in the provincial capital of Quetta. “I cannot afford high fees of private schools,” says Ghulam Haider, a government servant whose kids study in a government-run school in Quetta. Despite these efforts to improve quality and access to education, the far-flung areas of Balochistan such as Dera Bugti, Awaran and Musa Khel remain a grave challenge for the government, where buildings for government schools are used for anything but imparting education. A strong commitment is essential through successive governments in order for the resource-rich province to improve education levels.