Take school to the child

PAKISTAN is in the midst of a critical education crisis, with over 22.8 million children aged five to 16 years out of school, placing it second only to Nigeria in this context. The situation is especially dire for girls, with 53 per cent out of school as compared to 43pc of boys. Declaring a national education emergency, Pakistan identifies poverty, lack of infrastructure, cultural barriers, child labour, and early marriages as core obstacles.
Innovative solutions are required. Traditional efforts focus on bringing children to schools, yet many children living near these institutes of learning don’t attend, often perceiving education as irrelevant. This signals a need to (a) connect education with job opportunities and (b) customise schooling to meet children’s needs. To date, all conversations have focused on bringing the childto school. We need to now think of the reverse.
A promising model is hybrid technical and vocational education and training, which equips children with job skills alongside basic literacy. Hybrid TVET bridges the gap between education and work readiness, focusing on out-of-school children. It merges academic learning with vocational skills such as carpentry, tailoring, IT, plumbing, and agriculture, enabling children to acquire lifelong learning skills and employment options.
A significant education barrier in rural Pakistan is the lack of accessible schools and training centres. Mobile vocational training units address this by bringing education directly to remote communities. These mobile units, equipped with training materials and technology, can deliver both academic and vocational education. A few years back, a pilot project was conducted by an international funding agency. Lessons learnt from it need to be mainstreamed and its success amplified.
The mobile model proves especially valuable in conflict zones, where establishing permanent schools is difficult. Flexible schedules allow children to work part-time if essential, and baseline assessments can lead to formal certification.
For girls, community-based learning centres with local women educators can provide safe, culturally appropriate spaces. These centres can offer literacy, numeracy, and skills like sewing, embroidery, and food preparation. Integrating these skills into local economic activities enables girls to contribute through community projects in sustainable agriculture or small-scale businesses.
Expanding internet access, with over 116m mobile broadband users as of 2021, can make online and blended learning transformative, especially in the urban areas. Hybrid TVET can leverage these platforms, using online courses and in-person practical sessions to teach vocational skills. For instance, children can learn IT online and gain hands-on experience in local vocational centres.
These online platforms can connect with existing TVET institutions, allowing remote learners access to the same curricula and certifications as in-person students.
Pakistan also hosts a significant refugee population, including over 1.4m registered Afghan refugees, many of whom face disrupted education. Integrating hybrid TVET into refugee programmes can provide essential skills and education, fostering resilience and rebuilding communities. TVET in refugee camps could offer vocational training in fields like carpentry or tailoring, alongside basic literacy and numeracy to support self-sufficiency.
To further encourage school attendance, conditional cash transfers or stipends can aid low-income families. Expanding the Bena­zir Income Support Programme to include hybrid TVET would incentivise families to enrol children in vocational training prog­r­ammes, providing fi­­nancial support where child labour is common. Such financial incentives could be especially effective in rural areas, where families often rely on children’s earnings. By offering stipends for participation in hybrid TVET, families’ economic burden can be sustainably eased.
Pakistan’s out-of-school children represent both a challenge and an opportunity. By adopting innovative solutions like hybrid TVET, Pakistan can educate marginalised children and equip them with the essential job skills. From mobile training units to online platforms and community-based centres, several strategies exist to bring education directly to underserved children.
Hybrid TVET is a flexible, practical answer to Pakistan’s education crisis, providing a path to literacy, life skills, and employment.
The time to act is now: Pakistan’s children deserve an education that prepares them for a brighter future, and hybrid TVET can unlock that potential.
The writer is chairperson, National Vocational and Technical Training Commission.
[email protected]
Published in Dawn, October 30th, 2024