Survey reveals over 1.8 mln children out of school in NW Pakistan

ISLAMABAD, May 2 (Xinhua) -- A survey conducted by the Elementary and Secondary Education Department of Pakistan's northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) province revealed that over 1.8 million children are out of school, state-run broadcaster Radio Pakistan reported on Wednesday.

According to the survey, lack of interest, poverty and absence of schools are the main factors that are leading children to the workplace instead of schools in KPK.

Also, the people in the province do not see long-term benefits of education or do not have confidence in the ability of schools to provide quality education were among the reasons keeping children out of the schools.

As per the survey results, 31 percent do not attend the school due to lack of interest, 17 percent due to unavailability of schools and 28 percent because of poverty.

Out-of-school children in the province were 23 percent of the total population of the children aged between five to 17, showed survey results.

Survey finds that 64 percent out-of-school children are girls and 36 percent are boys.

The provincial-level survey was completed in more than one year of time period at the cost of 227 million rupees (about 1.96 million U.S. dollars) and a total of 4.52 million households were surveyed under the program, said the government officials in the province. Enditem