Seventy percent girls in rural Sindh Province never attend school: Survey

ISLAMABAD - Seventy percent of girl students in the rural areas of Sindh Province do not attend schools, according to a survey conducted by NGOs.

According to The Nation, there are 22,428 primary schools in Sindh, including 4,792 for boys and 7,298 for girls, but only 50 per cent enrolled children could complete their primary education and about 60 per cent girl students hardly go to middle schools.

The survey also found that about 3.8 million children have never been to schools in rural Sindh, while the dropout percentage in urban Sindh is even higher. Abot 50 per cent children aged 5 to 15, are out of schools.

Earlier, the Education and Literacy Department had planned to appoint women education visitors on the pattern of women health visitors to convince the parents to enrol their children in schools, but the government has reportedly failed to materialise this project.

The federal cabinet had approved the draft Compulsory Primary Education Ordinance 2001 in a meeting held on October 2, 2001 and the ordinance was promulgated on December 26, 2001.

In the wake of grim literacy rate, the educationists have urged the government to enforce this law, which could ensure 100 per cent increase in primary education in the province. (ANI)