OUT-OF-SCHOOL CHILDREN IN SINDH: Peeling back, layer by layer, every explanation we give ourselves for why almost half of Sindh's children are not in school
Every explanation in this article is tested against the same evidence: the 7th Population and Housing Census 2023, the Annual School Census series of 2013-14, 2018-19 and 2024-25, and the district-wise school-specific budget of the School Education and Literacy Department. Some of the explanations survive. Most do not. The number, and what it means According to Census 2023, there are 16,891,397 children aged five to sixteen in Sindh. Of them, 7,818,248 are not in any school. That is 46.3% — almost one child in every two.[1][2] In plain words: if you see a hundred children inside a school in Sindh, very nearly the same number are standing outside it. Girls are 52.3 % of them. What does this mean for Sindh's future? A child who is eight years old today and has never been enrolled will be eighteen in 2036 and thirty in 2048. Sindh is manufacturing the unqualified, unskilled, and least-paid workforce of 2050 right now. The province added 7.8 million people between the 2017 an...