Pakistan’s education crisis is often discussed through the number of children who are out of school. The figure is staggering: 26.2 million children are currently outside the education system. Yet the crisis is not only about enrolment. It is equally about whether schools are safe, inclusive and welcoming enough for children to stay, learn and thrive.

For the most marginalised children, exclusion does not begin at the school gate; it is reinforced within and around schools. Girls, children with disabilities, children from religious minorities, street-connected children, and those living in poverty or remote areas face multiple barriers, including distance, social attitudes, unsafe routes, inaccessible infrastructure, weak complaint mechanisms, and fear of punishment, bullying or humiliation.

Child safeguarding is sometimes wrongly treated as a compliance requirement, reduced to circulars or instructions against corporal punishment. In reality, safeguarding is a moral obligation and a foundational condition for learning. Children learn best when they feel protected, respected and heard. A safe education system must prevent harm, respond to abuse and build trust between children, teachers, parents and institutions.

To assess child safeguarding and wellbeing in schools, a situation analysis was led by Sightsavers as part of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office-funded........

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