Intl literacy day 2026: Time to bring out-of-school children under education net for economic prosperity
PESHAWAR (APP): Unaware that the world is observing International Literacy Day on Tuesday, 16-year-old Hussain Ali weaves his way through the narrow alleys of Qissa Khwani Peshawar, pushing a handcart laden with vegetables and fruits to financially support his family.
While moving in narrow streets from dawn to dusk, the summer heat has left dust on his face and fatigue in Hussain’s eyes, making him look far older than his age.
For Hussain, childhood ended when his father died of pancreatic cancer, forcing him to leave school and started labour work.
He took responsibility for helping repay the family’s medical debts and supporting a household of six at a time when the rising cost of living has made survival increasingly difficult for low-income families in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
“My father wanted to see me become an architect,” Hussain says, his eyes filled with quiet sorrow while talking to APP. “Now I just watch schoolchildren pass by and think about what could have been. Iliteracy and poverty snatched my dreams.”
His story is more than that of one child forced into labour in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa due to poverty but a painful reflection of a much larger socioeconomic problems that continues to push millions of children away from classrooms.
According to data from the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) survey, more than 3.9 million children in KP are out of school.
The gender gap is particularly alarming in settled districts where around 2.9 million out-of-school children are girls, while in the merged tribal districts, approximately one million children aged 5 to 16 years remain unenrolled.
The situation is particularly grave in several far flung underdevoloped districts. Palas Kolai has an estimated 77 percent of children out of school, followed by Upper Kohistan with 70 percent. North and South Waziristan stand at around 60 percent, Mohmand and Khyber at 51 percent, while Orakzai and Kurram report approximately 47 percent.
Behind these numbers are millions of individual stories children carrying burdens that should never have been placed on their young shoulders due to socioeconomic problems.
In many parts of the province, illiteracy,
poverty, cultural restrictions, inadequate infrastructure and social taboos continue to deprive children, particularly girls, of even basic educational opportunities.
“Education is the backbone of any progressive society. Free education is a constitutional right, not a luxury,” said Professor Dr. Muhammad Ibrahim, former Director of Education, KP while talking to APP on Tuesday.
He warned that growing illiteracy affects far more than individual futures besides undermined development.
Besides reducing economic productivity, increases dependency and undermines social stability, he said for poor households, child labour often becomes a survival strategy, but the price is paid in lost education and diminished opportunities in later life.
Across KP, many schools continue to struggle with inadequate classrooms, toilets, drinking water and boundary walls. For families already struggling to put food on the table, the additional costs of uniforms, school supplies and transportation can be enough to keep a child at home.
For girls, particularly in conservative and remote communities, social and cultural barriers can further narrow their educational prospects.
The result is a vicious cycle as poverty leads to dropout that contributes to illiteracy and limited skills besides restricting employment opportunities and creating security challenges.
“Unlike a flood, earthquake or political crisis, illiteracy rarely makes headlines as an immediate emergency. Yet its consequences accumulate quietly, weakening the foundations of economic development and social progress,” said Dr. Ibrahim.
International Literacy Day, observed globally on September 8 each year, highlights literacy as a fundamental human right and a foundation for education, opportunity and meaningful participation in society.
In 2026, the observance marks its 60th anniversary, providing an opportunity to reflect on six decades of progress while examining the challenges that continue to prevent millions of people from acquiring basic literacy and education.
The theme for international literacy day 2026, “Literacy for people, the planet and prosperity,” underscores the continuing importance of literacy in a rapidly changing world and its role in inclusion, sustainable development, livelihoods and economic opportunity.
In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the day has been marked with calls for collective action to address illiteracy, widely described by education experts as a root cause of socioeconomic inequality and poverty.
The KP education department, in collaboration with the National Commission for Human Development (NCHD), observed international literacy day week from September 1 to 8 across the province.
Public and private educational institutions organized seminars, awareness sessions, speech and debate competitions, essay-writing contests and poster competitions to promote the importance of education and literacy.
A seminar at the University of Peshawar brought together education and literacy experts, academics, members of the intelligentsia, journalists, editors, reporters, cameramen, photojournalists and representatives of electronic, print and digital media.
The Education Department also directed public and private educational institutions to organize special activities throughout the week and submit photographs and progress reports to the relevant authorities.
The government says it is pursuing a range of measures to bring children like Hussain back into the education system.
The experts and Govt officials said that about 1,053 second-shift schools—588 for boys and 465 for girls—were accommodating around 70,000 students, while approximately 830,000 children were enrolled in 2025.
The province has allocated Rs364 billion for education, including Rs19 billion for development, while plans include the construction of 500 new classrooms and restoration of 10 historic schools.
To address infrastructure and capacity constraints, the government is building 41 new primary and 12 secondary schools, upgrading 54 existing schools and introducing smart classrooms and digital attendance systems.
The Education Card initiative is another component of the government’s strategy, designed to provide students with access to textbooks, scholarships, stipends and other educational materials.
The government is also introducing a teachers’ licensing programme aimed at improving teaching standards, while recruitment of 16,500 new teachers and training of 30,000 recently hired teachers is underway.
Special attention is being directed towards the merged tribal districts, where the government has earmarked Rs1.5 billion for 50 new schools, Rs278 million for boundary walls and sanitation, and Rs470 million for additional classrooms in two-room primary schools.
To reduce the gender gap, KP is operating 3,553 girls’ community schools through the Elementary and Secondary Education Foundation (ESEF), while 14,150 students are benefiting from online education through the Poha Scheme.
Free school bags, stationery and other incentives are also being provided to reduce the financial burden on families and encourage enrollment, particularly among girls.
These initiatives are ambitious, but experts cautioned that the real challenge lies in translating policies and budget allocations into functioning classrooms and sustained attendance.
“Enrollment drives must be backed by strong retention strategies and stipends,” Dr. Ibrahim said. “Building schools is not enough. We must ensure they are functional, staffed and safe.”
For every child who returns to school, there is a possibility of a different future. But for every child who remains outside the education system, another opportunity is lost.
Children like Hussain are not merely statistics in an education report. They are potential architects, teachers, doctors, entrepreneurs, engineers and community leaders whose dreams can disappear beneath the weight of poverty.
On International Literacy Day, the challenge for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is therefore not simply to increase enrollment figures. It is to ensure that every child who enters a classroom has the support to remain there, learn, grow and build a dignified future.
The handcart that Hussain pushes through Peshawar’s crowded streets carries vegetables and fruits today. But it also carries a painful reminder of what happens when poverty, weak educational access and social barriers push children out of school.
For KP to realize its economic and social potential, it must win the battle against illiteracy—one child, one classroom and one community at a time.
