Over 10,000 schools in KP deprived of basic facilities: report

Thousands of children enrolled in over 10,000 government schools across 28 settled districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa remain without access to basic infrastructure, including boundary walls, electricity, washrooms, and clean drinking water, a provincial Education Department report has revealed.

The findings highlight widespread deficiencies in the region’s public school infrastructure. More than 5,000 schools lack electricity, over 2,000 have no access to safe drinking water, and a comparable number are without washroom facilities and protective boundary walls.

According to the report, 2,211 primary schools are still without electricity, with Mansehra (344) and Upper Kohistan (252) reporting the highest shortfalls. In Upper Kohistan alone, 208 schools lack clean drinking water, while 1,253 primary schools are operating without functional washrooms.

Of the 160 middle schools in the province, 136 are without boundary walls, 71 lack clean drinking water, and 57 have no washrooms. In the provincial capital Peshawar, 21 schools are without electricity, 15 lack clean drinking water, 17 have no washrooms, and 8 are without boundary walls.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Information Advisor Barrister Muhammad Ali Saif, said the provincial government was making efforts to address the lack of basic amenities in government schools. He noted that education remained a top priority, and that Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur had taken notice of the issue and issued directives accordingly.

He added that more resources would be allocated in the next budget to ensure that no government school remained without washrooms and drinking water facilities.

Saif also mentioned that districts with over 50% out-of-school children would see an educational emergency declared. In areas with an urgent need for school facilities, the government intended to establish schools in rented buildings to bridge the gap.

These efforts come against the backdrop of alarming figures recently released by the provincial education department, which show that 37% of children in KP remain out of school.

The earlier report paints a concerning picture, revealing that 4.92 million boys and girls across the province are currently deprived of formal education.

The problem is most acute in Kolai-Palas Kohistan, where 80,333 children are out of school. The neighbouring districts of Lower and Upper Kohistan also record alarmingly high rates, with 79% of children not enrolled in any educational institution.

In contrast, Upper Chitral emerges as the province’s best-performing district, with only 10% of children out of school.

The provincial capital, Peshawar, has more than 500,000 out-of-school children, including 319,000 girls, underscoring a major gender gap in education access.