In Sindh, a child’s education can end long before a university gate comes into view.

On paper, the school system is vast. Officials say the province has more than 41,000 government schools and between 12,000 and 13,000 private ones, serving nearly nine million students, yet around 7.6 million children remain outside the system altogether.

The loss begins early. In a 2024 briefing, the education minister told the chief minister that over 4.1 million children were out of school after primary, because the province had only 4,730 middle and secondary schools. The dropout rate after primary stood at 54 per cent.

Those who finish school find a narrow door. The College Education Department lists 343 functional government colleges for a province of well over 50 million people.

The budget shows the priorities. For 2026/27, Sindh set........

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