Free, compulsory education for all - Pashtoonkhwa Milli Awami Party manifesto

(Note: Pashtoonkhwa Milli Awami (PkMAP) is part of a coalition government in Balochistan with PML-N and National Party therefore Truth Tracker uses the PML-N symbol for PKMAP’s promises)

Promise

“Free, equal and compulsory education  for all,” was the slogan of Pashtoonkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP), a coalition partner in Balochistan government that also holds the education portfolio in the provincial government.

The PkMAP manifesto, submitted to the election commission of Pakistan before the general elections 2013, focused on education in addition to strengthening democracy and democratic reforms.

The Plan

“The previous governments have left holes in the system. Education was not on their priority list. This is why we have a big gap in our education system compared to other provinces. To fill this gap, we need time and resources. Our coalition government is focused on education,” said Sardar Raza Muhammad Barrech, Adviser to Chief Minister Balochistan on Education, while speaking to Truth Tracker.

“It is the first time that the Balochistan government has allocated more than 23 percent of the annual provincial budget to the education department,” he added. “The government will achieve the targets set for universal education under the Millennium Development Goal and the number of school-going children will increase. Every child will have access to school and a teacher,” he told Truth Tracker.

The Background

Balochistan, the largest province of Pakistan, has a scattered but small population. Smaller villages, towns and cities are separated from one another by large distances, with the education infrastructure and resources spread thin over huge swathes of land. As a result, people look towards urban centres for better education. This puts the urban school system under immense pressure. According to an NGO working on education in Balochistan, more than 80 percent of children do not any get education because there are no schools for them in their locality. Those that exist are ghost schools.

The chief minister of Balochistan, Dr Abdul Malik Baloch, has said that the worsening law and order situation in different parts of the province has deprived around 70,000 children of education. Meanwhile, with the population growing rapidly, many classes are over capacity. Teachers posted in the villages are rarely seen in schools. Ghost schools are common across the province and many villages lack schools altogether. Lack of awareness and a deeply-entrenched tribal system are the leading causes of low enrollment in rural areas. Former government proposals have aimed to place more teachers in schools. Still, hundreds of posts meant for teachers remain vacant.

Tracking/Fulfillment

“Since the formation of the government, no improvement or progress has been visible in the provincial education sector,” former provincial education minister for Balochistan, Maulana Abdul Wahid Siddiqui, told Truth Tracker. “Though these [elected] nationalist parties have attractive manifestos and slogans for reforms and development in the education department,  there are no signs of improvement,” Siddiqui said. “The current government should improve the education sector. Dr. Malik Baloch is experienced and is a former education minister. He and his team were expected to improve the poor condition of education. However, no concrete steps have been taken yet,” said Siddiqui.

He said his constituency had 55 schools that were non-functional. “Not a single school building or repair work is included in the provincial  PSDP [Public Sector Development Program]“, said Siddiqui. The political parties should fulfill vows made to the people who voted them to power, he said.

Independent View

“Promises made by government office bearers look good only on white paper,” Abida Khan Kakar, social activist and veteran educationist, told Truth Tracker. ”In the past, governments were corrupt and did not spend funds in the education sector which badly affected the literacy rate. Though the lofty budget for education seems to be a step in right direction, it is still too early to pass a judgement on  how the  current government will fare when it comes to education.” “Getting the mafias out of the education system is a really hard job,” she added,  pointing to the different teacher unions and political pressure groups.

Our Ruling

Other than the increase in education budget, no practical steps are visible on the ground. Only time will tell if the Balochistan government and the parties in the coalition will truly fulfill the vows they have made about strengthening the education sector in the province. For now, fulfillment of the promise has not started.