Bridging the gap: understanding out-of-school children in Pakistan

ABSTRACT

Education plays a central role in promoting social inclusion, respect and dignity and therefore contributes significantly to economic and social progress. The accessibility and quality of education are directly related to the development of any country. Therefore, ensuring equal access to quality education is crucial for sustainable economic growth, especially in developing countries. UNICEF’s ranking of Pakistan as the country with the second highest number of school dropouts in the world stimulated this study to address the alarming problem of large numbers of out-of-school children in marginalized communities such as Pakistan. The study aims to examine the multiple factors that stimulate dropout rates or out of school, including socioeconomic status, geographical location, child-related characteristics, child labor, skills and attitudes. Using data from MICS Wave 6 in Pakistan, this study proposes recommendations for educators and policymakers aimed at promoting equal educational opportunity and inclusive growth around the world.

KEYWORDS:

• Out-of-school children
• socioeconomic status
• child labor
• disabilities
• child attitude

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

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Publicly available.

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.

Notes on contributors

Shahla Akram

Shahla Akram is affiliated as a researcher with the Department of Economics, National College of Business Administration and Economics (NCBA&E), Lahore, Pakistan. Her research interests include economic development, income inequality, inequality of opportunities and social cohesion, social exclusion, economics of health and education.