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S Pakistan launches another fiscal year between pressing economic obstacles and development priorities, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan’s educational budgets offer significant insights on how provincial governments are responding to access to access and learning.
KP has 13.1 million children at the age of 5-16. 4.9 million of them are out of school. In Balochistan, out of 5.4 million children of this age, an estimated 3.8 million are out of formal education system. These figures indicate both hurry and opportunities to enhance access through provincial budget selection, to improve quality and close regional differences. With the two provinces committing the resources for education in the financial year 2025-26, the real test will be how effective they are targeted and how they translated into equal, measurement results.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has allocated Rs 418 billion for education in its 2025-26 budget, the largest in the history of the province and a significant confirmation of its priority in the sector. It has increased by 19 % over the previous year and shows a permanent top, which is more than doubled in the last seven years. Education is now 21 % of the provincial budget, which is more than 17 % in 2016-17, which reflects permanent progress. The allocation of the province has increased from Rs 172 billion to Rs 400 billion in fiscal year 2017-18, which not only reflects the available financial space, but more importantly is that a commendable political commitment to invest in education as a strategic priority.
Although the allocation of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has increased significantly, the education budget for Balochistan’s fiscal year 2025-26 is Rs 156 billion, which is slightly less than Rs 159 billion last year. Although the reduction is modest, its symbolic weight is significant, especially by suppressing the province’s educational needs. As a part of the total provincial budget, the allocation for education has dropped from 17 % to 16 %, which has highlighted the challenge to balance limited resources against competitive development priorities. Nevertheless, this pace has been a significant growth over the past decade, which has been extended by five times the budget of education in 2015-16, compared to just Rs 30 billion, which has shown the need to recognize the role of education in development despite the obstacles of resources.
The balance between repeated and development costs highlights how the provinces maintain the existing system while investing in the future. In KP, the fiscal year 2025-26 is 94 % of the education budget for repeated expenditures, with only 6 % for growth. This allocated sample has been in the last decade, with 4 % in the financial year 2017-18 and developmental shares between 4 % and 9 % in the financial year 2019-20. Even during the years of the overall budget increase, investment in investment in infrastructure, innovation and learning standards has been modest. The current distribution continues to continue this trend, reflects a cautious approach that prefers provision over extension.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan stand on the frontiers of Pakistan’s educational reforms, not only with the challenges of access and learning but also with increasing insecurity, which threatens the benefits of severe win.
Balochistan, while allocating a relatively high 12 % for development, has witnessed a 41 % reduction in development allocation compared to the previous year. This fiscal year is a sharp reversal from 2024-25, when about 19 % of the education budget in development costs, and is less than 23 % in the fiscal year 2021-22. Its implications are important: the new construction of the school, the financial space to help improve the classroom methods and the improvement of learning, especially in the underground rural and Perry Urban areas. Balochistan’s development financing trend reflects both a strong framework for mid -term costs to protect financial volatility and key investment.
The active defect of the budget and the preferences he highlighted where the provincial education systems intend to focus on resources and reforms. In KP, up to 88 % repeated expenditures are dedicated to school education, 11 % higher education and 1 % in technical and professional streams. Development allocations follow a similar pattern, which is directed to 75 % of elementary and secondary education. In particular, Rs 5 billion has been allocated for the emergency program of education to re -enroll with school children (OUSC), along with Rs 5.9 billion to upgrade facilities to more than 32,000 schools, which focused new focus on maintaining and infrastructure. However, in spite of their recognized importance for equity and learning results, investment in early childhood education and later primary transition is limited.
In Balochistan, repeated expenditures allocate 34 % secondary, 27 % in primary and 23 % for higher education. Development funds are distributed similarly, 40 % allocated for primary, 35 % for secondary and 25 % for higher education. Key measures include Rs 28 billion for early years and primary education, 431 new toilet blocks and a pilot school dining program in Quetta. The allocated amount dedicated to girls’ education, comprehensive education and recovery of learning is replied, which makes critical space dissipation.
Despite the high allocation, the two provinces have important system level challenges. KP still has 4.9 million children outside school, which is concentrated in integrated districts and teenage girls. More than 40 % of PP schools are left without any walls and 26 % lack water supply. Although recruitment projects are underway, multi -grade teaching is underway in 33 % of primary schools. Balochistan also faces a severe deficit: more than 60 % of schools work without electricity, toilets or safe drinking water. After more than 60 % of the students focused at the primary level, post primary transitions are limited. The province’s secondary ranks suffer from high student -proportion of teachers and permanently low female entry rate. Without targeted investment and delivery reform, the risk of increasing current inequalities increases rather than changing the results in the budget.
In KP and Balochistan, the budget is needed to change the results of the results of how access, infrastructure and permanent gaps in learning are allocated, preferred and implemented. In order to truly change the cost of education in these provinces, five strategic shifts are essential.
First, the development allocation should be painted with mid -year deductions and should be replaced with strategies in the integration districts of girls’ education, improvement in infrastructure and low geography, especially KP and remote southern Balochistan. Second, the balance of costs must be transmitted from the results by adding structural teaching, basic skills and preparation programs to the results, not for ad hoc projects. Thirdly, timely release, smooth planning and use goals will have to improve the budget implementation of the district’s needs and capabilities.
Fourth, delivery models should be local and flexible, which should increase measures such as community and three -day schools to reach children in spreading, low -density areas. Fifth, financing should be associated with measurement results, supported by adaptive tools: targeted subsidy, school -based administration and strong diagnosis. This agenda demands more than financial supply. It calls for the use of efficient resources, performance -related budgets and partnerships to unlock skills and capital.
KP and Balochistan stand on the frontiers of Pakistan’s educational reforms, not only with the challenges of access and learning but also with increasing insecurity, which barely threatens victory. These budgets are likely to protect education from eliminating conflicts and elimination, but only if they are spent with the purpose and discipline. At the end of success, it will be measured as to how this investment translates into a safe, comprehensive and meaningful education for every child, even despite the troubles.
Ahmed Ali is associated with the Institute of Social and Policy Science (I-SAPS). It can be arrived at Ahmadaley@gmail.com
