The dilemma of out-of-school children in Gilgit-Baltistan and way forward

On November 21, 2022, the Gilgit regional office of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) organized a meeting to commemorate World Children’s Day. The purpose of this meeting was to consult with stakeholders regarding out-of-school children (OOSC) in Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B) and how to make G-B’s education system more inclusive.

The participants at this meeting included representatives from the G-B government, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) working on education, representatives from the Association of Persons with Disabilities, and members of civil society.

Background

According to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), Pakistan currently has the world’s second-highest number of OOSC at approximately 22.8 million children, representing 44% of the total population of children. While GB has a high literacy rate in Pakistan compared to the rest of Pakistan, the region also has a considerable number of OOSC.

According to a socio-economic survey conducted by the Benazir Income Support Program (BISP), 22% (125,894) of GB’s total population of children (569,421). Of these figures, 20% (58,671) are boys and 24% (68,175) are girls. A survey of GB’s population of 735 transgender children also shows that 48 are OOSC.

Various socio-economic factors contribute to OOSC, such as an inability to afford tuition, non-inclusive learning environments, the distance of schools from homes, poor infrastructure, or a dysfunctional family environment. OOSC ultimately leads to a higher proportion of an unskilled and uneducated workforce, an increase in poverty, and other hurdles to sustainable development. Children also become vulnerable to rights violations such as child labor.

Children’s right to education is considered a fundamental right enshrined under Article 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), Article 25-A of the Constitution of Pakistan, Article 27 of the Gilgit-Baltistan Order 2018 and Section 6 of the GB Child Protection Response Act 2017.

Pakistan is also obligated to uphold this right after ratifying the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) in 1990. Despite the very clear international obligations, articles of the Constitution of Pakistan, and national and provincial laws regarding the right to education of children in Pakistan and GB, an overwhelming number of OOSCs is alarming for policymakers and civil society.

Recommendations

The participants at HRCP’s meeting proposed the following steps that must be taken by the GB government to minimize the number of OOSC in the region:

1. Conduct a district-level survey for an accurate assessment of the various factors that keep children out of school.
2. Draft and implement a constitutional policy under Article 25-A to provide accessible education for every child. This policy must include steps to curb child labor as well as provide financial support to low-income families.
3. Establish a steering committee or task force to oversee the implementation of a program aimed towards increasing school enrolment and curbing dropouts at the provincial and district levels. This program must be linked with measures for poverty reduction, population control, drug control, and mental health accessibility for a holistic system of administration and welfare.
4. Revisit school curriculums to incorporate components on life skills and human rights. The examination and grading systems must also be revisited.
5. Ensure that children complete their basic education from ECD to grade 12 within a reasonable distance from their homes.
6. Monitor schools to ensure they deliver a good quality of education with adequate facilities and co-curricular activities. A good-quality education must include a diverse array of subjects including arts, humanities, and sciences, and be inclusive to children regardless of their abilities and socio-economic status.
7. Create a strong collaborative environment between local communities and school management for the inclusion of OOSC. This can be done by launching awareness campaigns about children’s right to receive an education.
8. Ensure that parents provide their children’s citizenship documents, such as a birth certificate, when enrolling their children in schools. If they are unable to do so, NADRA should facilitate them – Ensure a quota for the enrolment of children with disabilities. Schools must also be equipped with trained staff members and accessible facilities to accommodate their needs.
9. Implement the existing national and GB child protection laws to protect children from harassment, abuse, and corporal punishment.
10. Make it a mandatory requirement for schools to design and implement policies for reporting child abuse on school premises as well as on routes between schools and homes.
11. Provide special attention to children’s mental health issues and social displacement resulting from family dysfunction or domestic violence.
12. Introduce informal skill-based learning programs for OOSC.
13. Strategize for reducing dropouts after natural disasters take place. A good model for reference is a new project launched by CEENA Health and Welfare Services under which the school tuition of disaster-affected children will be paid for one year and then renewed after assessing the rehabilitation of the affected families.

The writer is a Gilgit-based human rights activist and columnist, currently, he is attached to HRCP as a regional coordinator for the GB chapter. He can be reached on israrhrcpglt@gmail.com