Balochistan’s literacy rate has improved to 49%, but thousands of settlements still lack schools and major gaps remain across districts.
Web Desk: Balochistan continues to face a major education challenge despite more than Rs300 billion spent on the sector over the past two years, with thousands of settlements still lacking access to schooling facilities.
The province’s literacy rate has improved from 43% to 49% over the past five years, according to figures cited by Geo News from the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics. However, the improvement has not eliminated wide disparities in access to education across Balochistan.
Balochistan is Pakistan’s largest province by area, covering around 347,190 square kilometres, but its population is dispersed across thousands of settlements. This geography makes providing schools, teachers and other educational facilities particularly challenging.
Thousands of settlements lack schools
Educationist Nazar Khan Barech said only around 12,000 of Balochistan’s 23,000 settlements have access to schooling facilities.
That means a substantial number of communities remain without nearby schools, highlighting the continuing challenge of reaching children in remote and scattered areas.
Opposition leader in the Balochistan Assembly Maulana Hidayatur Rehman has also raised concerns over educational backwardness in the province, saying large numbers of children remain out of school.
Literacy improves, but district gaps remain
The province-wide literacy figure masks significant differences between districts.
According to the figures cited by Geo News, Kech has the highest literacy rate at 63%, while Washuk records the lowest at 21%.
The situation is particularly difficult in Dera Bugti, where the overall literacy rate stands at 24%, while female literacy is only 10%.
The Balochistan education department has pointed to the rise from 43% to 49% as evidence that its policies are producing results. Its 2024-25 report also records the five-year improvement.
Government reports progress
The provincial government says it has taken several measures to expand access to education.
Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti said on World Literacy Day that more than 3,800 inactive schools had been reactivated over the past two years, while 768,000 out-of-school children had been brought back into the education system.
He also said more than 2,000 new schools had been established through the Balochistan Education Foundation, with projects for another 1,800 schools and 3,000 additional classrooms underway.
These figures indicate that the government has made efforts to expand school access, even as concerns remain about the overall literacy level and disparities between districts.
Spending alone has not solved the problem
Education experts argue that increasing allocations will not automatically translate into better literacy outcomes.
The challenge includes ensuring regular teacher attendance, enrolling children in primary schools, improving girls’ access to education, providing basic school facilities and strengthening the quality of teaching. Better monitoring of education spending is also needed to ensure funds reach communities that need them most.
The figures suggest that Balochistan’s education challenge is therefore not simply about the amount of money allocated to the sector.
The larger question is whether spending is translating into functional schools, regular teachers, higher enrolment and improved learning outcomes.
