In Mastung district, there are 215 boyss primary schools and 52 girls primary schools. The number of privately run middle schools is just one. The number of government middle schools is 24, 18 for boys and 6 for girls.

 The total number of primary and middle schools for girls is not adequate. The proportion of girls primary schools within the total number of primary schools is 19.5% and the proportion of girls middle schools within the total number of middle schools is 25%. The proportion of girls high schools within the total number is also 25%. There is no private high school in the district.

 Mosque schools were established to increase the number of primary schools. The idea was to use the mosques from morning to Zohar time for education purposes. They were not successful and government merged them with the primary schools. Primary schools give basic education units up to 5th grade. Six years of schooling are carried out under this system. Middle school provides three years of further schooling. High schools provide education up to 10th grade. In district Mastung all government primary, middle and high schools use Urdu as the Medium of instruction. Only one private middle school teaches in English.

 Madrasas do exist in very large number in rural as well as in urban areas. The Madrasas provide religious education and they are run by religious organisations. Their expenses are borne through individual and community contribution.

 There is no technical school in the district. There are two English language centres with, together, 400 students and 6 teachers. There are no specific courses in computer science.

 There is no gender specific data on literacy rates available because, in rural tribal society, people are reluctant to tell the number of females in the family and tell about their activities. Moreover, informal education is carried out in the housesIt has been observed and confirmed that almost all the girls can read the Holy Quran. It may be pointed out that the reading of the Holy Quran alone does not come into the definition of literacy. Many girls are not enrolled in school as a result of parental attitude toward girls enrolment in schools, shortage of female teachers and schools and social and cultural constraints.

 Comparison of formal and non-formal education, learns that formal education has age restrictions, the method of instruction is different and there are regular schooling hours. For non-formal education, there is no age limit and the methods of instruction are specially designed. Non formal education is funded by the following sources: the Provincial Social Welfare Department, the Federal Government through the Ministry of Education, the Prime Minister Literacy Cell and the Asian Development Bank.

The school system in the district works on the same pattern as in other districts. Broadly the school system can be broken down into three types of schools, primary, middle and high schools. The high school system is further divided into high school and model high school. One model school is functioning at district headquarters. The reputation of the school is very good. It is believed that its performance is much better than government schools.

 In Mastung the government school system is controlled by a District Education Officer (DEO). He is responsible for the supervision of all educational activities in the district.

Source: Balochistan Education Management Information System (BEMIS), 1996.

Primary schools provide basic education up to 5th grade. Enrolment in primary schools was 11,814 out of them the number of girls was 3,932, which was 33.3 percent. By April, 1996 there were 267 primary government schools out of them 52 were for girls and 215 for boys. The functioning of primary schools in rural areas is not satisfactory.

There are no vocational training schools in the district.

Middle school is composed of one to eight classes (including primary section). There are 24 middle schools in Mastung, 18 are for boys and 6 for girls. The total enrolment for middle schools up to April 1996 was 4,614. Out of this total 1,343 were girls, which is 29.1 percent.

The high school comprises up to 10 classes with primary and middle classes included, Humanities and science are taught in the school. There were 12 high schools in April 1996 in district Mastung. Out of them 9 for boys and 3 for girls. The total number of enrolment was 4,743. The number of girls was 1,296, which is 27.3 percent. The examining body for high school students is Balochistan Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education, Quetta.

There are two colleges, one for boys and one for girls; one is an intermediate and one is degree college. Intermediate college is for girls, while degree college is for boys. In the intermediate college classes for 11th and 12th class are run, while in the degree college courses up to graduate level are taught. Like secondary school examination, the examining body for intermediate examination is the Balochistan Intermediate and Secondary Education, Quetta. The examination of graduate classes is held under the Balochistan University, Quetta.

The primary school building for boys is normally composed of two class rooms and a veranda. For many girls’ primary schools in addition to the above, a toilet and a boundary wall is included. Middle school buildings, both for boys and girls, have on average five class rooms and toilet facilities are available. In the case of high schools 15 to 20 class rooms, toilet facilities and boundary walls are commonly present. In addition to this, location permitting, a playing ground is also present. In those high schools where science subjects are taught, laboratories are also available.

The provincial government plays the biggest role in the education sector, as can be seen in the following table :

The average number of years needed to complete the primary cycle in the rural areas of district Mastung is 8 years, while in the urban areas it is 7 years. To complete middle education, the average number of years for rural areas is 4 years and 3½ years in urban areas. People in rural areas seem to be at a disadvantage in this respect.

The absence of data makes it difficult to compute drop-out rates. However, BEMIS authorities have indicated that the drop-out rate is very high, especially for girls, in primary schools. There are a number of reasons for students to drop out of school. Poverty is the major reason. Another reason is that children are not enrolled in time. In most cases they are admitted between the ages of eight and nine. Lack of parental attention is also a reason. Moreover, in rural areas teachers, as they are untrained and underpaid, have no interest to motivate children for schooling. The drop-out rate of girls is much higher than of boys, because in rural areas girls have to assist their mothers in domestic work. Prevailing social and cultural values are other reasons for the high dropout rates of girls.

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