Balochistan is a blessed province with numerous natural resources. It is the richest province of Pakistan with lowest population of all the provinces. But sadly, Baloch people are living the worst life in Pakistan despite being so rich. We have various educational woes within our territory which are begetting more and more illiterate citizens who can’t express themselves to anyone and our resources are being supplied to others. Most of the children in Balochistan are out of schools. They are unaware of the good impacts of education and are instead doing labour for earning incomes. In simple words, illiteracy gives birth to child marriage and labour in a nation.

According to a report in a local newspaper, almost 33pc children of Balochistan are out of school. It is so irritating to realise that most of your population is illiterate, especially the children of the province. One of the major causes of this backwardness is negligence from the government. No one in Balochistan seems concerned about this province and its young generation.

Secondly, because of no education these young children and their families are unaware of why education really is important.

After quitting their studies they are often found in taking part in labour activities. Many carry bags and wander within the city to collect the waste material. One of my closest colleagues once asked two children having bags and wandering in the city, “Why are you carrying these bags instead of having school bags? Why don’t you get education?” One of them laughed and said, “What is the difference between our bags and their bags? We get money and they give money. Ha ha ha. You look good but you are quoting the words of a foolish person.” They left right after it. How careless our government is! Our people have no sense to distinguish between the bags which themselves ditch the reality by their looks.

Rural areas are suffering because of high number of out of school children. Every second child in most of the rural villages of Balochistan is out of school. Sadly, their parents feel no regret in keeping these kids away from education. Unfortunately, our government provides no career counsellors for the rural areas to let them know a little bit about education and its positive impacts and influences on our standards of living. This is further deteriorating the literacy situation in the province and the percentage of out of school children.

Thus, Baloch nation has been suffering because of high number of children staying out of schools for decades. We have borne enough and want some educational reforms in our province in order to compete with the other provinces and to have some contributions for the development of the country. Provincial and Federal governments must be concerned about the province and some steps must be taken to promote education in Balochistan.

The writer is a teacher at DELTA in Turbat and a free columnist based in Turbat. He can be reached atalijanmaqsood17@gmail.com