79% of Pakistan’s Children Never Attended School: Census Report

Pakistan is facing a significant challenge with out-of-school children, with 36% of its child population – approximately 91 million children – not attending school . This alarming statistic comes from “The Missing Third of Pakistan Census 2023” report. The majority of these children, 74%, reside in rural areas, while 26% are from urban areas.

Key Findings:

• Total Child Population: 71.2 million children are between the ages of 5 and 16 in Pakistan.
• Never Attended School: 79% of children have never stepped foot in a classroom.
• Dropout Rate: 21% of children have dropped out, with a staggering 60% dropout rate in 17 out of 591 tehsils.
• Unenrolled Children: 95 tehsils have a 95% rate of children who were never enrolled in schools.

This issue is not new to Pakistan, as previous reports have also highlighted the country’s struggle with education . Various factors contribute to this problem, including lack of access to schools, poverty, and socio-cultural barriers. To address this challenge, organizations like UNICEF are working with the government to improve education indicators and reduce the number of out-of-school children .