Kohlu district has one intermediate college, 6 high schools, 19 middle schools and 288 primary schools. There are two private educational institutions (middle schools) in the district. Some of the schools are non-functional and the teachers are getting salary without any teaching activity. Unfortunately, no reliable data are available about these non-functional schools. The public sector schools, in most cases, are unable to impart quality education. The teachers of government schools are not interested in teaching and absenteeism is a common complaint.

The government school system in Kohlu follows the national pattern. It is divided into three stages: primary, middle and high. The entry point to primary stage is kachi, which is actually first part of class one while the second part is pakki. In this way the student spends two years to pass class one. After class one four more years are required to pass primary stage (class 5). Middle stage (class 6 to 8) is of 3 years’ duration and high section (class 9 and 10) is of two years. In order to obtain a secondary school certificate a total of 11 years’ schooling is required.

There are 245 boys’ and 43 girls’ primary schools in the district. Thirty-one of these are mosque schools which have the status of primary schools. Seven other primary schools used to be mosque schools, but have now been designated as primary schools. In 11 mosque schools both boys and girls are enrolled while the remaining mosque schools are attended exclusively by boys. A vast majority (83.7%) of the boys’ primary schools and 69.8 percent of the girls’ primary schools in Kohlu district are single teacher schools. There is one boys and one girls’ primary schools without a single teacher. Usually a Junior Vernacular Teacher (JVT) is appointed in a primary or mosque school. The teacher-student ratio in boys’ primary schools is 1:14 and for girls’ primary schools this ratio increases to 1:23. Co-education was found in 72 boys’ and 2 girls’ primary schools.

The Department of Social Welfare has established a Typing Centre and an Embroidery Centre at Kohlu. At present there are 8 students in the typing centre and 12 girl students in the embroidery centre. Equipment and instructors are provided by the Department.

 There are two Carpet centres in the district: one at Kohlu and the other at Mawand. These centres have been established under the Department of Industries and are imparting training in carpet weaving. This is an encouraging effort to develop export-oriented vocations in such a backward district.

In Kohlu, there are 16 boys’ and 3 girls’ middle schools. These schools provide education up to the 8^th grade which includes the primary section as well. Ideally, the staff of a middle school comprises Secondary School Teachers, Junior English Teachers, Junior Arabic Teachers, Drawing Master, Physical Training Instructor, Mualim-ul-Quran and Junior Vernacular Teachers. The teacher-student ratio in primary section of the boys’ middle schools is 1:11 and of the girls’ middle schools is 1:28. For the middle sections the ratio is 1:5 and 1:3 for boys and girls respectively.

 The Taleem Foundation has established a middle school, named Paper Grammar School, at Kohlu. There are 248 students for whom a total of 12 teachers have been employed. Each of the students is charged a monthly fee of rupees 330 along with rupees 500 as admission fee and another rupees 500 as refundable security. All of the teachers are Master’s degree holders and are paid a reasonable remuneration. Another private middle school, named Iqra Public Grammar School, has also been established in Kohlu town. At present it has 210 students up to 6^th grade. There are 10 teachers, mostly graduates. A monthly fee of rupees 250 is charged from each student apart form rupees 500 as admission fee. Both of these schools are striving for imparting quality education to the students. The parents, who could be contacted, seem satisfied with the standard of education in these schools.

Kohlu has 5 boys’ high schools and one girls’ high school. One of the boys’ high schools is a model high school. All the high schools in the district have all the 3 sections: primary, middle and high. In addition to the sanctioned teaching staff for a middle school, every high school is considered to have a head master/mistress and subject specialists. In the boys’ high schools the teacher-student ratios for the primary, middle and high sections is 1:17, 1:8 and 1:13 respectively. For the female students in the girls’ high schools this ratio is 1:22, 1:4, 1:9 for the primary, middle and high sections respectively.

 The only girls’ high school is in Kohlu town therefore the girls residing in far flung areas of the district are unable to get enrolled here. The socio-cultural norms and financial restraints do not allow the parents to send their daughters to other towns for education. The result is that only 11 girls are enrolled in 9^th and 7 girls in 10^th grade.

There is only one intermediate college in the district. Here, boys and girls are enrolled together. Although the cultural milieu of the area does not allow co-education, a few families have allowed their daughters to get a college education together with boys, considering the importance of female education. This not only indicates a positive attitude of the parents towards female education, but also reveals a strong determination on the part of girls of the district for getting an education. This phenomenon necessitates the need for a girls college in Kohlu. It is easy to imagine, keeping in mind the socio-cultural fabric of the area, how many girls have been deprived of higher education because of the non-availability of a girls’ college.

 In 1997-98, there were 117 male and 6 female students enrolled in the intermediate classes. A total of 13 teachers – all males – are appointed in the college to teach these students.

The school administration in Kohlu is the responsibility of the District Education Officer and the Sub-divisional Education Officer, who administer the government school system in Kohlu. Every high school is headed by a headmaster or headmistress (in BPS-17), every middle school by a Senior Science Teacher as headmaster or headmistress (in BPS-16); primary schools are headed by a senior Junior Vernacular Teacher (in BPS-7).

In Kohlu, primary school buildings usually have one room, either kacha (made of mud or un-baked bricks) or pakka (made of baked bricks or cement blocks). More than a half (59.2%) of the boys’ and 21 of the girls’ primary schools are single-room schools. One of the boys’ and 2 of the girls’ primary schools are shelterless. The District Education Officer has provided of list of 163 shelterless primary schools which seems unrealistic. Most probably the DEO has considered schools with kacha room as shelterless. Some of the girls’ primary schools do not have the required boundary wall.

 Usually a middle school is provided with 5 class rooms and toilet facilities. Despite the specifications provided by the Department of Education, boundary walls are not always provided around the girls’ middle schools. High schools are supposed to have 15-20 class rooms with a toilet and a boundary wall.

 Although the budget for construction and repair work of the school buildings is allocated on district basis, the Third Education Project and the Primary Education Department are responsible for the way the budget is spent. The planning for construction work is centralised and the concerned headmaster is rarely consulted in this regard. This practice sometimes results in inappropriate utilisation of funds.

The provincial government is the main actor in the provision of educational facilities in Kohlu. The private sector and an NGO has also contributed in this sector by establishing middle schools. The Department of Social Welfare has established an Adult Education Centre for women at Kohlu. This centre is a commendable effort for promotion of female literacy. Presently 9 women are attending the centre. The Department has also established one Typing Centre and one Embroidery Centre. Similarly the Department of Industries has established two Carpet Centres.

The girls in Kohlu face great problems in getting college education in the absence of a separate girls college. This not only deprives the females of an equal opportunity for higher education, but also results in non-availability of educated females for the health and education sectors. However, the determination of girl students for getting an education and the favourable attitude of their parents are evident from enrolment of girl students in the boys’ college. The establishment of an Adult Education Centre may help promoting female literacy.

 There are few refresher courses for school teachers. The teachers are not appropriately trained for teaching. A few schools do not function due to absence of teaching staff. Most school buildings do not provide the facilities they should. Most of the primary schools are single room schools and in a few schools the students have to sit outside under the trees or sky for lack of a building.

 The establishment of centres for training of typing, embroidery and carpet weaving is a commendable initiative. This will not only enable the youth to help their families but may also contribute towards economic development of the country.