By Moaaz Manzoor

A door-to-door survey in Islamabad Capital Territory has identified 22,057 out-of-school children, of whom 2,328 have been enrolled, while 19,729 are yet to be put into schools, according to a document available with Wealth Pakistan.

The figures show that the main challenge under the No Child Left Behind initiative is no longer only identification of out-of-school children, but their timely enrolment and retention in formal or non-formal education facilities.

According to the document, the Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training launched the No Child Left Behind initiative in March 2026 to ensure that every out-of-school child in Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) is identified, enrolled and retained in formal or non-formal education.

The campaign is being implemented through a union council-wise carpet coverage strategy involving door-to-door household surveys, community mobilisation and real-time monitoring.

The document said the survey has been completed in 31 union councils, while five are still in progress. The campaign initially targeted 36 rural union councils out of 50 union councils of ICT during April-June 2026.

The data cover children aged 0-16, while those aged 5-16 are targeted for enrolment. The first-phase target is to enrol 25,000 out-of-school children in Islamabad.

The gender dashboard in the document listed 11,737 boys, 10,319 girls, and one unisex entry among the total identified out-of-school children. This means boys accounted for about 51 per cent and girls about 49 per cent of the identified children.

The enrolment gap remains substantial. Of the 22,057 identified children, the dashboard showed 19,729 as identified but not yet enrolled, while 2,328 had been enrolled in the system.

The document said data of out-of-school children is being updated in the Non-Formal Education Management Information System, an online database used to manage non-formal education data in Pakistan.

This is important for tracking identified children, monitoring enrolment progress and reducing the risk that children counted in surveys remain outside learning facilities.

Under the enrolment plan, priority is being given to admissions in Federal Directorate of Education schools. Non-formal education centres and community schools are being used in underserved areas, while individual students are being referred to the Private Educational Institutions Regulatory Authority for enrolment.

The document also said school supplies, uniforms, teaching and learning materials and teaching kits are being provided. More than 1,100 qualified individuals have been engaged as teachers, and they have received comprehensive training.

The initiative involves the Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training, the National Commission for Human Development, Basic Education Community Schools, the National Education Foundation, non-governmental organisations, the Pakistan Institute of Education, and the Japan International Cooperation Agency, Islamabad.

The way forward listed in the document includes accelerating enrolment of all identified out-of-school children, extending the survey to remaining union councils, strengthening coordination among education providers and establishing an effective retention mechanism for enrolled students.

It also calls for improved monitoring and evaluation, teacher capacity building, stronger parental engagement, better data management systems and provision of school supplies to minimise the dropout rate.

For families, the immediate issue is whether the identified children can be placed quickly in nearby schools or learning centres. For education authorities, the test will be whether the campaign can move beyond counting out-of-school children and ensure that the 19,729 children still awaiting enrolment enter and remain in the education system.

Credit: INP-WealthPk