PESHAWAR — Despite the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government’s aggressive policy of outsourcing public institutions to the private sector, a large number of government schools remain completely non-functional. Furthermore, the official data verifying the operational status of schools deemed “functional” has sparked intense controversy within the education department.
According to official government documents, the province has already outsourced 210 schools in the winter zone, while the outsourcing process for an additional 290 schools in the summer zone remains underway.
However, contradictory data released by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Education Foundation (KPEF) reveals that out of the 210 outsourced institutions, only 146 schools are actually operational, leaving 64 schools entirely non-functional.
4.9m Out-of-School Children in KP Face Uncertain Future
Severe Infrastructure Decay Paralyzes 53 Campuses
Official documentation highlights that acute structural and environmental barriers block the reopening of these shuttered institutes. The department categorized the primary reasons for the functional failure as follows:
- Structural Failure (53 Schools): Dilapidated building conditions, missing boundary walls, an insufficient number of classrooms, or a complete absence of baseline civic utilities.
- Accessibility Issues (4 Schools): Severe geographical barriers blocking road access to the school sites.
- Natural Disasters (2 Schools): Campus locations situated in flood-affected regions that require extensive rehabilitation.
- Student Depopulation (3 Schools): Campuses located in remote zones where student enrollment or physical attendance is entirely unfeasible.
- Legal Gridlock (1 School): Operations halted indefinitely due to ongoing legal disputes.
Disputed Data Triggers Mandatory Physical Verification
The operational claims made by the foundation faced immediate backlash during a high-level departmental meeting. District Education Officers (DEOs) from Haripur, Khyber, and Upper Dir explicitly questioned the validity of the provided statistics.
The DEOs argued that given the extensive structural crises plaguing these facilities, it is highly suspect that the private sector could make so many schools fully functional within such a compressed timeframe.
“The rapid operational turnaround claimed in official reports warrants strict review given the ground realities,” a departmental source stated following the meeting.
In response to the sharp objections raised by the district officers, the department officially decided to conduct a comprehensive physical verification drive of all outsourced schools. This field validation aims to uncover the authentic ground realities, rectify conflicting data metrics, and expose the true operational capacity of the province’s outsourced education network.
