‘Education apartheid’: schooling in crisis in Pakistan

This photo taken on November 13, 2024 shows students going back to their home from a community school in Abdullah Goth village on the outskirts of Karachi. (AFP)
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Updated 11 January 2025
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‘Education apartheid’: schooling in crisis in Pakistan

  • Pakistan is facing severe education crisis, with over 26 million children out of school, the majority in rural areas
  • Poverty is the biggest factor keeping children out of classrooms, but the problem is worsened by other factors too

ABDULLAH GOTH: Aneesa Haroon drops off her tattered school bag at her rural home in Pakistan and hurriedly grabs lunch before joining her father in the fields to pick vegetables.
The 11-year-old’s entry into school at the age of seven was a negotiation between teachers and her parents in her farming village on the outskirts of Karachi.
“Initially, many parents were not in favor of educating their children,” headteacher Rukhsar Amna told AFP.
“Some children were working in the fields, and their income was considered more valuable than education.”
Pakistan is facing a severe education crisis, with more than 26 million children out of school, the majority in rural areas, according to official government figures — one of the highest rates in the world.
This weekend, Pakistan will host a two-day international summit to advocate for girls’ education in Muslim countries, attended by Nobel Peace laureate and education activist Malala Yousafzai.
In Pakistan, poverty is the biggest factor keeping children out of classrooms, but the problem is worsened by inadequate infrastructure and underqualified teachers, cultural barriers and the impacts of climate change-fueled extreme weather.
In the village of Abdullah Goth on the outskirts of Karachi, the non-profit Roshan Pakistan Foundation school is the first in decades to cater to the population of over 2,500 people.
“There was no school here for generations. This is the first time parents, the community and children have realized the importance of a school,” said Humaira Bachal, a 36-year-old education advocate from the public and privately funded foundation.




This photo taken on November 13, 2024 shows Rukhsar Amna, a 27-year-old school principal, interacting with children at a community school in Abdullah Goth village on the outskirts of Karachi. (AFP)

Still, the presence of a school was just the first hurdle, she added.
Families only agreed to send their children in exchange for food rations, to compensate for the loss of household income that the children contributed.
In Abdullah Goth, most children attend school in the morning, leaving them free to work in the afternoon.
“Their regular support is essential for us,” said Aneesa’s father, Haroon Baloch, as he watched his daughter and niece pick okra to sell at the market.
“People in our village keep goats, and the children help graze them while we are at work. After finishing grazing, they also assist us with labor tasks.”




This photo taken on November 13, 2024 shows Aneesa Haroon, an 11-year-old schoolgirl, attending a class inside a community school in Abdullah Goth village on the outskirts of Karachi. (AFP)

Education in Pakistan is also increasingly impacted by climate change.
Frequent school closures are announced due to heavy smog, heatwaves and floods, and government schools are rarely equipped with heating or fans.
In the restive provinces of Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, education faces significant setbacks due to ongoing militancy, while classes are routinely disrupted in the capital Islamabad due to political chaos.
Although the percentage of out-of-school children aged between five and 16 dropped from 44 percent in 2016 to 36 percent in 2023, according to census data, the absolute number rises each year as the population grows.
Girls all across the country are less likely to go to school, but in the poorest province of Balochistan, half of girls are out of school, according to the Pak Alliance for Maths and Science, which analyzed government data.
Cash-strapped Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif declared an “education emergency” last year, and said he would increase the education budget from 1.7 percent of GDP to 4 percent over the next five years.
Public schools funded by the government offer free education but struggle with limited resources and overcrowding, creating a huge market for private schools whose costs can start from a few dollars a month.
In a parallel system, thousands of madrassas provide Islamic education to children from the poorest families, as well as free meals and housing, but often fail to prepare students for the modern world.




This photo taken on November 13, 2024 shows Aneesa Haroon (L) and Zulekha Mahmood working at a field after finishing school in Abdullah Goth village on the outskirts of Karachi. (AFP)

“In a way, we are experiencing an education apartheid,” said Adil Najam, an international relations professor at Boston University who has researched Pakistan’s education system.
“We have at least 10 different systems, and you can buy whatever quality of education you want, from absolutely abysmal to absolutely world-class.
“The private non-profit schools can prime the pump by putting (out) a good idea, but we are a country of a quarter billion, so these schools can’t change the system.”
Even young student Aneesa, who has set her mind on becoming a doctor after health professionals visited her school, recognizes the divide with city kids.
“They don’t work in field labor like we do.”




This photo taken on November 13, 2024 shows Kamran Imran (L), a 10-year-old schoolboy (L), working at a motorcycle workshop after finishing school in Abdullah Goth village on the outskirts of Karachi. (AFP)

In the small market of Abdullah Goth, dozens of children can be seen ducking in and out of street-side cafes serving truck drivers or stacking fruit in market stalls.
Ten-year-old Kamran Imran supports his father in raising his three younger siblings by working at a motorcycle workshop in the afternoons, earning 250 rupees ($0.90) a day.
Muhammad Hanif, the 24-year-old owner of the workshop, does not support the idea of education and has not sent his own children to school.
“What’s the point of studying if after 10 to 12 years, we still end up struggling for basic needs, wasting time and finding no way out?” he told AFP.
Najam, the professor, said that low-quality education was contributing to the rise in out-of-school children.
Parents, realizing their children cannot compete for jobs with those who attended better schools, instead prefer to teach them labor skills.
“As big a crisis as children being out of school is the quality of the education in schools,” said Najam.


‘Roses of Humanity’: Lahore gallery hosts art installation to honor children killed in Israeli strikes on Gaza

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‘Roses of Humanity’: Lahore gallery hosts art installation to honor children killed in Israeli strikes on Gaza

  • Israel’s 18-month war on Gaza has killed more than 52,000 people, many of them women and children
  • The installation features thousands of fabric roses, each representing a child whose life was cut short

ISLAMABAD: The Alhamra Arts Council in Pakistan’s eastern city of Lahore has opened an immersive art installation for visitors to honor the memory of children killed in Israeli strikes on Gaza, highlighting the devastating human toll of the war.
Israel’s 18-month offensive against Hamas has killed more than 52,000 people, many of them women and children, and displaced more than 90 percent of Gaza’s population, Palestinian officials say. The Israeli military has also blockaded aid to the Gaza Strip since March.
In remembrance of the innocent lives lost in Gaza, the Lahore-based Labour & Love social enterprise, in collaboration with The Fundraisers BBS, has set up the installation at the Ustad Allah Bux Gallery, encouraging reflection on the situation in Gaza,
The installation features thousands of hand stitched fabric roses, each one representing a child whose life was cut short, transformed into a symbolic garden of remembrance, enveloped in evocative soundscapes, gentle fragrance and thoughtful lighting design.
“A total of 15,000 fabric roses represents the number of children reported killed in Gaza by the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights as of June 2024 a number that, heartbreakingly, has since grown,” said Nuria Iqbal, who curated the installation.

This handout photo, released by Roses of Humanity on May 4, 2025, shows an art installation features thousands of fabric roses, to honor children killed in Israeli strikes on Gaza, at the Al-Hamra Arts Council in Lahore on May 2, 2025. (Photo courtesy: Handout/Lotus)

“Together, these roses form a radiant tribute to humanity, reminding us that dignity flourishes when we are seen, heard and held in compassion.”
The installation will be on display at the gallery from May 18.
Iqbal shared that each of the roses was crafted from discarded fabric, once cast aside and now reborn in beauty, symbolizing the forgotten lives of the children of Gaza.

This handout photo, released by Roses of Humanity on May 4, 2025, shows an art installation features thousands of fabric roses, to honor children killed in Israeli strikes on Gaza, at the Al-Hamra Arts Council in Lahore on May 2, 2025. (Photo courtesy: Handout/Lotus)

“The varied colors and textures of the fabric reflect the rich diversity of creation and the strength of unity amidst difference,” she added.
The development comes at a time when Hamas has dismissed as pointless ceasefire talks with Israel, accusing it of waging a “hunger war” on Gaza where famine looms, as the Israeli military prepares for a broader assault.

This handout photo, released by Roses of Humanity on May 4, 2025, shows an art installation features thousands of fabric roses, to honor children killed in Israeli strikes on Gaza, at the Al-Hamra Arts Council in Lahore on May 2, 2025. (Photo courtesy: Handout/Lotus)

The comments from Hamas political bureau member Basem Naim on Tuesday followed Israel’s approval of a military plan involving the long-term “conquest of the Gaza Strip,” according to an Israeli official.
The former Gaza health minister said the world must pressure Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to end the “crimes of hunger, thirst, and killings.”


UK may restrict students from countries, including Pakistan, with high asylum claims

Updated 47 min 36 sec ago
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UK may restrict students from countries, including Pakistan, with high asylum claims

  • The move follows the ruling Labour Party’s poor performance in last week’s local elections
  • Of 108,000 asylum claims in Britain last year, 16,000 were from people with student visas

LONDON: The British government may restrict visa applications from students living in countries that are considered most likely to claim asylum in a move designed to bring down annual net migration, a government official said.
The move comes after Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Labour Party was punished in local elections in England last week by voters angry over issues, including illegal immigration.
The government is expected next week to publish a policy document, known as a white paper, which will set out how the government plans to reduce net migration, which reached 728,000 people in the year to June last year.
“Our upcoming Immigration White Paper will set out a comprehensive plan to restore order to our broken immigration system,” the Home Office said in a statement.
High levels of legal migration have long dominated Britain’s political conversation and were one of the major drivers for the Brexit referendum in 2016.
Out of the 108,000 people who claimed asylum in Britain last year, 16,000 had student visas, government data shows. The government does not provide a breakdown of the nationalities of those who had student visas, who went on to claim asylum.
But the government said people from Pakistan, Nigeria and Sri Lanka were the most likely to claim asylum in Britain after arriving on a work, student, or a visitor visa.
In the aftermath of the party’s poor local election results last week, some Labour members of parliament urged the government to do more to take a more decisive approach on issues such as bringing down net migration.
Jo White, who represents a group of lawmakers in previously Labour heartlands known as the “Red Wall,” said the government should stop “pussyfooting around.”


Pakistan inaugurates national intelligence, threat assessment center amid India tensions

Updated 06 May 2025
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Pakistan inaugurates national intelligence, threat assessment center amid India tensions

  • Pakistan has already been battling twin insurgencies and ties between Islamabad and New Delhi have recently plummeted to new lows over an attack in Kashmir
  • The new platform will coordinate Pakistan’s counterterrorism strategy by leveraging the “full spectrum” of institutional capabilities, PM Sharif office says

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday inaugurated the National Intelligence Fusion and Threat Assessment Center (NIFTAC) Headquarters, Sharif’s office said, amid heightened tensions with India.
Relations between the nuclear-armed neighbors have plummeted after India accused Pakistan of backing an attack in Indian-administered Kashmir’s Pahalgam that killed 26 tourists on April 22. Islamabad has rejected the charge and both countries have since exchanged gunfire in Kashmir, taken diplomatic measures against each other, expelled citizens and ordered the border shut.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has vowed to pursue the attackers “to the ends of the earth” and there have been fears that India may carry out limited airstrikes or special forces raids near the border with Pakistan. The Pakistan military has conducted two missile tests since the standoff, with Islamabad saying it had “credible intelligence” that India was planning to attack Pakistan.
NIFTAC integrates over 50 federal and provincial departments and agencies into a unified intelligence and threat management architecture supported by a centralized national database. At the sub-national level, it is linked to six provincial intelligence and threat assessment hubs, including those in Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan, to ensure seamless coordination between the federation and provinces.
“This integrated framework is designed to harmonize intelligence gathering, analysis, and operational responses across multiple domains,” Sharif’s office said. “By leveraging the full spectrum of institutional capabilities, NIFTAC will enhance national preparedness, optimize resource utilization, and enable a coherent and timely counterterrorism response.”
Pakistan has witnessed a surge in militancy in its northwest by religiously motivated militant groups like the Pakistani Taliban. The South Asian country has also been faced with a decades-long insurgency by Baloch separatists in its southwest, which has intensified in recent months.
On Tuesday, seven Pakistani army soldiers were killed when their vehicle was targeted by an improvised explosive device in the southwestern Balochistan province, Pakistan’s military said in a statement.
Sharif was accompanied by federal ministers and services chiefs at Tuesday’s inauguration of the NIFTAC headquarters, which will coordinate Pakistan’s national counterterrorism strategy. He commended all stakeholders involved in operationalizing this vital capability and described NIFTAC as a quintessential national platform for collaborative threat assessment and response.
“Dismantling the nexus between terrorism, illicit networks, and external sponsorship requires robust and efficient institutional mechanisms,” Sharif was quoted as saying by his office.
“[NIFTAC] will play a pivotal role in uprooting terrorism and its support structures from the country.”


Bears dominate Pakistan stocks as risk-averse investors wary of India standoff fallout

Updated 55 min 57 sec ago
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Bears dominate Pakistan stocks as risk-averse investors wary of India standoff fallout

  • Benchmark index surged to intraday high of 990 point but later succumbed to selling pressure, hitting an intraday low of 683 points
  • Moody’s on Monday warned that India-Pakistan standoff could set back Islamabad’s economic reforms as world powers called for calm

KARACHI: Pakistan’s stocks lost more than 500 points on Tuesday after early morning gains as risk-averse investors remained wary of the country’s ongoing tensions with nuclear-armed neighbor India, analysts said. 

The benchmark KSE-100 Index rose as much as one percent or 900 points after trading kicked off at the bourse in the morning, following a surprise move by the central bank on Monday to slash the key policy rate by 100 basis points 11 percent to spur growth amid challenges posed by US trade tariffs and geopolitical tensions with archrival India.

However, as the day progressed, profit-taking emerged across key sectors, gradually eroding the morning gains. The index ultimately succumbed to selling pressure, hitting an intraday low of 683 points and closing the session at 113,568 level, down by 533 points or 0.47 percent.

“Index remained bullish in intraday trade following the State Bank of Pakistan’s 100 basis points policy rate cut [on Monday],” Najeeb Ahmed Khan Warsi, head of online trading at Foundation Securities Ltd., told Arab News in Karachi, adding that the rate cut had lifted investor sentiment and triggered buying across key sectors such as oil, cement, and energy. 

Market participants were optimistic about lower financing costs and improved earnings potential under a more accommodative monetary policy stance, Warsi added.

At 11 percent, the interest rate is at its lowest since December 2021, creating further room for the economy to expand amid easing inflation.

Shankar Talreja, director of research at brokerage firm Topline Securities Ltd., said the market was positive in the morning primarily on the back of reports that banks would release payments to settle energy sector debt, also called circular debt.

Energy scrips like Pakistan State Oil, Oil & Gas Development Company Ltd. and Pakistan Petroleum Ltd. rallied more than two percent in daily trade “on the hope of payment disbursement from the banking sector to settle the Rs1.2 trillion circular debt,” said Muhammad Rizwan, director brokerage at Chase Securities Pakistan, in a note to clients.

Talreja said there was a solid ground for the central bank to cut borrowing costs. 

“However, the market was uncertain earlier on the timings just due to geopolitical tensions,” he said in a text message to Arab News.

But Tuesday’s early morning rally proved short-lived as investors started selling their shareholdings to book profits, dragging the benchmark index 0.5 percent to close at 113,568 points.

Cement stocks bore the brunt of profit-taking and dropped as much as three percent.

“Indo-Pak issues (are) clouding the gains actually,” Talreja said. 

“Despite an unexpected cut in the monetary policy statement, investors preferred to book gains in PSX as border tensions are still at a high level,” said Rizwan of Chase Securities.

Warsi said profit-taking, regional uncertainty with India and caution ahead of the new federal budget for FY26 were weighing on investor sentiment despite a supportive monetary stance.

Pakistan is expected to announce its budget for 2025-26 next month. 

On Monday, Moody’s said the standoff with India could hurt Pakistan’s $350 billion economy, which is on a path to recovery after securing a $7 billion bailout program from the International Monetary Fund last year and staving off a default threat.

“Sustained escalation in tensions with India would likely weigh on Pakistan’s growth and hamper the government’s ongoing fiscal consolidation, setting back Pakistan’s progress in achieving macroeconomic stability,” Moody’s said.

“A persistent increase in tensions could also impair Pakistan’s access to external financing and pressure its foreign-exchange reserves,” it added.

The report comes two days after Reuters reported that India has asked the IMF to review its loans to Pakistan.

India’s economy is not expected to see major disruptions since it has “minimal economic relations” with Pakistan — although higher defense spending could weigh on New Delhi’s fiscal strength and slow fiscal consolidation, Moody’s added.

Pakistan on Tuesday also accused India of altering the flow of the Chenab River, one of three rivers placed under Pakistan’s control according to the now suspended Indus Waters Treaty of 1960. 

The stoppage of water is likely to negatively impact Pakistan’s agriculture, which contributes more than 20 percent to gross domestic product.


Pakistan, Saudi Arabia agree to deepen anti-narcotics cooperation amid growing drug seizures

Updated 06 May 2025
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Pakistan, Saudi Arabia agree to deepen anti-narcotics cooperation amid growing drug seizures

  • Pakistan’s state minister for interior meets Saudi director general of narcotics control in the federal capital
  • He says Pakistan has a ‘zero-tolerance policy’ on narcotics while calling drug trafficking an international issue

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and Saudi Arabia agreed to increase bilateral cooperation on anti-narcotics efforts, according to an official statement on Tuesday, as Islamabad described the drug trade as a global problem requiring collaboration among friendly nations.
The issue came up for discussion during a meeting in Islamabad between Pakistan’s Minister of State for Interior Talal Chaudhry and Saudi Arabia’s Director General of Narcotics Control, Major General Mohammed bin Saeed Al-Qarni, who was accompanied by a high-level delegation.
Pakistan has faced a significantly intense drug problem, with Chaudhry saying the government seized narcotics worth $21 billion last year.
“Pakistan has a zero-tolerance policy on narcotics,” the interior ministry statement quoted him as saying during the meeting. “Drug trafficking is an international issue, and only through mutual cooperation between friendly countries can this menace be effectively addressed.”
The meeting was also attended by Saudi envoy to Pakistan Nawaf bin Said Al-Malki and senior Saudi military and narcotics officials.
The Pakistani minister pointed out that over 40 percent of the world’s drug production originates from neighboring Afghanistan.
He also praised his country’s Anti-Narcotics Force for effectively dealing with the challenge despite its limited resources.
Chaudhry linked recent crackdowns on undocumented migrants to broader concerns about drug trafficking and militancy.
Major General Al-Qarni described the relationship between Saudi Arabia and Pakistan as exemplary and called for joint work to address the “scourge” of narcotics, according to the statement.
At the conclusion of the meeting, Chaudhry presented honorary shields to the Saudi delegation and conveyed his best wishes.