KOHAT, Feb 28: There is an immediate need of 36 primary schools in the Kohat district to overcome the increasing number of out of school children in the area and upgrading of existing facilities in the government schools to attain 100 per cent literacy, reveals an official report prepared with the help of UNICEF.

This number had been calculated after the establishment of 22 community schools in the district by the government under its universal primary education programme continuing since 1999.

A total of 2,859 children between the age group of 5-9 years are still out of school in areas where though the government schools exist but due to major defects in the primary education system as compared to 21,629 during 1999 after the launching of universal primary education programme by the UNICEF in district Kohat, a government survey has revealed.

A tentative trend analysis showed that the causes of illiteracy among the children was primarily due to the fact that 40.34 per cent parents did not send their children to schools due to poverty, 11.10 per cent were not interested in providing education to their children, 17.2 per cent children remained deprived due to long distance of school from their homes, schools lacked facilities for 2.11 per cent special children and 4.99 per cent had no school facility.

The report compiled by association for the creation of employment, a UNICEF funded NGO for achieving 100 per cent primary literacy in Kohat which had been declared as a model area says that a large number of out of school children were girls who were discouraged by their parents to go to school. The organization claimed to have achieved 86 per cent of universal primary education for boys only.

The ACE had achieved universal primary education in 169 villages out of 386, in 27 union councils of Kohat. Whereas in 89 villages the target had remained to be boys only for obvious reasons.

The survey which was conducted in government schools also revealed that the children were being discouraged due to teacher absenteeism and about 3,912 children sitting in schools had not been enrolled and there was no attendance register.

The ratio of girl’s schools in the district which spreads over an area of 2,545 square kilometres was 190 students per school and for boys 134 students per school. The number of total primary schools was 621. But in most of the areas the school buildings comprised only one room which was shared by the staff and the students.