LAHORE (Dunya News) — More than 25 million children in Pakistan remain out of school despite the federal government's declaration of a national education emergency over two years ago, with inadequate funding, weak governance and fragmented administrative structures continuing to hamper progress, according to a new policy report.
The comparative policy review, prepared by the Civil Services Academy, found that efforts to bring over 25 million out-of-school children into the education system have failed to achieve the desired results due to deep-rooted structural challenges, persistent financial constraints, poor governance and uneven provincial capacity.
The report said all provinces have developed education roadmaps under the National Education Action Plan (NEAP) 2026, but stressed that the main challenge lies not in policy formulation but in effective implementation.
According to the report, Pakistan's education crisis is the result of decades of underinvestment, poverty, rapid population growth and weak governance. Data from the Pakistan Institute of Education (PIE) indicates that these factors have steadily worsened the out-of-school children crisis over the years.
It noted that from the 1990s through the 2010s, the Academy of Educational Planning and Management (AEPAM) monitored out-of-school children, but millions remained outside the education system as public education infrastructure failed to keep pace with population growth, leading to the expansion of low-cost private schools.
The report, prepared by five Policy Analysis Groups at the Pakistan Administrative Service Campus, reviewed education policies in Punjab, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan, Islamabad Capital Territory, Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir, assessing them on effectiveness, efficiency, equity, ethics and feasibility.
It estimated that between 25.1 million and 26 million children in Pakistan are currently out of school, placing the country among those carrying the world's second-largest burden of educational deprivation despite the constitutional guarantee of free and compulsory education under Article 25-A.
The report said the declaration of a National Education Emergency on May 8, 2024, generated significant political attention but noted that provinces face distinct structural challenges, making a uniform national strategy insufficient to address the crisis.
According to the review, Punjab's biggest challenge is its large out-of-school population, Sindh struggles with post-primary education and climate-related disruptions, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa faces insecurity, difficult terrain and a shortage of female teachers, while Balochistan continues to grapple with weak institutions, vast distances and non-functional schools. Federal territories, it added, have relatively higher enrolment but still face internal disparities.
Describing Punjab as carrying the country's largest education burden, the report estimated that between 9.6 million and 10.4 million children in the province are out of school. According to the Punjab School Education Department's 2026 baseline report, 6.4 million children have never enrolled in school, while another 3.16 million dropped out, highlighting that retaining students remains as significant a challenge as enrolment.