ISLAMABAD: The federal government, provincial administrations, Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) and Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) on Wednesday unanimously approved the National Education Action Plan aimed at reducing the number of out-of-school children (OOSC) across the country.
The approval was given during the 38th Inter-Provincial Education Ministers Conference (IPEMC), chaired by Federal Minister for Education Dr Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui. The conference marked a rare display of consensus among all federating units on one of Pakistan’s most persistent social challenges.
According to United Nations agencies, including Unicef, more than 25 million children in Pakistan are currently out of school, placing the country among those with the highest numbers globally. Officials said the crisis has been aggravated by economic pressures, climate-related disasters and chronic underinvestment in the education sector.
Sources said the conference participants, after extensive consultations, endorsed both the national framework and its provincial components, while setting targets to reduce the number of out-of-school children over the next five years.
A press release issued by the Ministry of Federal Education said the meeting was attended by Minister of State for Education Wajiha Qamar, Federal Parliamentary Secretary Farah Naz Akbar, Federal Secretary Education Nadeem Mahbub, and provincial education ministers Rahila Hameed Durrani (Balochistan), Muhammad Ismail Rahoo (Sindh), Rana Iqbal Sikandar (Punjab) and Arshad Ayub Khan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa). Representatives from AJK and GB, as well as heads of federal education bodies, also participated.
During the session, participants were briefed on a special federal “Challenge Fund” designed to support provinces in bringing out-of-school children back into classrooms. The federal government assured continued technical and financial assistance to the provinces under this initiative.
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Provincial representatives shared updates on their ongoing reforms. Punjab’s education minister announced the outsourcing of 10,000 schools, while Sindh reported the merit-based recruitment of 93,000 teachers. Balochistan said it had restored 3,200 closed schools, resulting in the enrolment of around 140,000 children. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa reported a six per cent increase in enrolment and the recruitment of 10,000 teachers. AJK highlighted the allocation of Rs7 billion for the construction of 10,000 new classrooms, while GB outlined steps including special funds for OOSC and expansion of the school meal programme.
Participants were briefed on a special federal ‘Challenge Fund’ aimed at bringing out-of-school children back into the education system.https://t.co/rlPKABwVJO
— Dawn.com (@dawn_com) January 8, 2026
Federal Secretary Education Nadeem Mahbub said all approved initiatives would be submitted for final ratification to the Education Emergency Task Force chaired by the prime minister. He also stressed the need to align matriculation and intermediate technical education with international standards.
Director General of the Pakistan Institute of Education (PIE) Dr Muhammad Shahid Saroya said the action plan was developed over six months of consultations with stakeholders to address the issue of out-of-school children in a systematic manner.
Concluding the conference, Dr Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui termed the unanimous decisions a milestone in national harmony, saying sustained coordination among all units was essential to address educational challenges, expand access in remote areas and meet evolving global standards.
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