A nation does not fall when its buildings crumble or its coffers empty, it falls when its classrooms decay, when curiosity dies in silence, and when children are robbed of their right to learn.

That is the slow death unfolding in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP). What could have been a generation’s greatest chance has been turned into its greatest betrayal. After more than twelve years of absolute power, the rulers of KP have left behind not schools of learning, but ruins of neglect, slogans in place of solutions, theatre in place of teaching and collapse in place of change.

According to the Pakistan Economic Survey 2024-25, the literacy rate in Punjab stands at 67%. In KP, it languishes at 51%. Punjab has achieved an enrolment rate of 67% for children aged 5-16, while KP manages only 39%. The dropout rate in Punjab is 13%; in KP it is an astonishing 31%.The failures of KP’s education system echo in its classrooms. The student-teacher ratio in Punjab is 22:1, close to global norms, allowing some degree of individual attention. In KP, the ratio is a staggering 45:1. A single teacher, often underpaid and demoralised, is expected to manage nearly fifty children in dilapidated rooms with leaking roofs and broken furniture. Worse, many classrooms do not even have teachers. Ghost employment, where teachers draw salaries but never appear, has become endemic. Absenteeism........

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