JAVED is enrolled in Grade 6 in a government school in his village. Akhtar, Javed’s father, is wondering whether or not he should pull Javed out of school. Akhtar feels Javed is not learning much at school, and that if he is put to work at the nearby auto-repair workshop he will not only earn a little, but would also be learning a skill. Though there is no fee in the government school, there are still expenses for uniform, stationery, etc, that burden household resources, which could be used for food and other necessities.

If Javed stays in school, even if he is able to pass Matric eventually, he will still not have learnt a skill and would not have any decent job openings afterwards. Akhtar knows he does not have the resources to fund college studies for Javed. Though Akhtar is waiting for the school year to end before making the decision, his mind is, more or less, made up: Javed will be working at the workshop from the summer onwards.

Too many of our children are out of school although our constitutional promise to them is free and compulsory education for all. Too many children in schools in Pakistan receive poor quality education. We have plenty of evidence. So, returns on education, in terms of what the child, the household or the family might get, from approximately 10 years of low quality education are not high. In fact, Akhtar is right; they are not worth spending 10 years in school.

But, this should not mean we stop calling for........

© Dawn