The educational institutions in Panjgur district include 227 primary schools, 20 middle schools, 15 high schools, two degree colleges and one teachers training school. Apart from these public sector educational institutions, 4 primary schools exist in the private sector. Many of the government schools in the district are not functional. These schools exist on paper only. Their staff is getting salary but no teaching activity is being carried out. No reliable official data about these non-functional schools is available.

The government school system in Panjgur 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 get secondary school certificate a total of 11 years’ schooling is required.

There are 168 boys and 59 girls primary schools in the district. About half of these schools are single teacher schools. About one third of these schools have been mosque schools, which have now been awarded the status of primary schools. Usually a Junior Vernacular Teacher (JVT) is appointed in a primary school. In mosque schools both the boys and girls study up to the primary level. The teacher-student ratio in boys primary schools is 1:30 and for girls primary schools this ratio increases to 1:72. Co-education is a common practice in Panjgur at primary level in the boys primary schools. However, there are few male students in the girls primary schools.

Amongst the 59 girls primary schools, 22 are community support primary schools and 4 are community model primary schools. All these 26 schools were initiated by the community with efforts of the Society for Community Support for Primary Education funded by UNICEF and World Bank. A Village Education Committee (VEC) is constituted amongst the villagers where at least 75 percent of the residents are willing to open a girls primary school. This committee supervises the functioning of the school. A local middle pass girl is engaged as a teacher. Space for the school and the teacher’s remuneration for an initial 3 months is provided by the community. After 3 months the government approves and finances the school if its performance is satisfactory. After 3 years the government constructs the school building on the land provided by the community, provided that funds are available.

There are 4 private primary schools of which two are being run by province-wide NGOs, namely the Helper Association and the Pak Public Development Society. The minimum qualification of teachers in these schools is graduation and they are paid a reasonable remuneration. The monthly tuition fee for each student ranges between 250 to 300 rupees while every year 400 to 500 rupees are charged as admission fee and 200 rupees as annual fund. The enrolment in these schools is increasing as the parents think the educational standard at these schools is good. Presently about 600 students were enrolled in all these 4 primary schools.

There is no vocational training facility in the district, either in the public or the private sector. However an English language institute is functioning since 1995. It has passed out about 450 students to date.

In Panjgur, there are 15 boys and 5 girls middle schools. These schools provide education up to the 8th grade which includes a 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 the primary section of the boys middle schools is 1:29 and in girls middle schools 1:49. This ratio for middle sections of the boys middle schools and girls middle schools is 1:11 and 1:18 respectively.

Panjgur has 11 boys and 4 girls high schools. 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 has, or is considered to have, a head master/ mistress and subject specialists. There is one model high school in Panjgur under a Principal. In the boys high schools teacher-student ratio for the primary, middle and high sections is 1:34, 1:19, and 1:14 respectively. In the girls high schools this ratio is 1:70 for the primary section, 1:78 for the middle section and 1:41 for the high section.

The district has two degree colleges: one for boys and another one for girls. The boys college was established in 1974 at the intermediate level. In 1991 degree classes were started for both boys and girls. The students are taught both science and arts subjects in these colleges. In 1996, there were 673 boys and 141 girls at the intermediate level while the degree students comprised 223 boys and 34 girls. There are 30 teaching posts at the boys college out of which 8 are vacant.

The girls of the district do not have a separate college building and female teachers. Intermediate classes were started in 1989 in the building of the boys college. The girl students are taught by the male teachers of the boys college in the afternoon. The male teachers are paid a honorarium of 1200 rupees for teaching the girl students. In this way the Government of Balochistan is not only saving a big amount on account of teachers salaries but also does not have to spend money on the girls college building. On the other hand, absence of a separate college building and of female teachers are major reasons behind the small number of regular girl students at the degree college.

There are two District Education Officers in Panjgur, one for the boys and the other for the girls, who administer the government schools system in Panjgur. They are assisted by Sub Divisional Education Officers and other auxiliary staff. Every high school is headed by a Head Master/Mistress (in BPS 17), middle school by a Senior Science Teacher as Head Master/Mistress (in BPS 16), and primary schools are headed by a senior Junior Vernacular Teacher (in BPS 7).

The building of primary schools in Panjgur usually comprises one room, either kacha (made of mud or un-baked bricks) or pakka (made of baked bricks or cement blocks) and even this one room is not available in some schools. There are 84 shelter less primary schools out of which 20 are for girls. A boundary wall is not present outside some of the girls primary schools. A toilet is a rare facility in the primary schools.

Usually a middle school is provided with 5 class rooms and toilet facilities. According to the specifications provided by the Department of Education, a boundary wall is not necessarily provided outside the girls middle schools. The high schools are supposed to have 15-20 class rooms with toilet and boundary.

Although a 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 using this budget. 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 provision of educational facilities to the people in Panjgur. The Primary Education Development Project in collaboration with the Primary Education Quality Improvement Programme has sub-contracted the Rural Community Development Council for opening community-run girls primary schools. This council has succeeded in opening one such school in Gramkan and one in Sordo. The private sector is also involved in imparting education through primary schools.

Emphasis should be placed on increasing primary school enrolment and lowering of drop out rates for both boys and girls. Parental attitude towards girls education could substantiate the low girls’ enrolment and the poor educational facilities for girls.

The girls in Panjgur face a great problem in getting college education in the absence of separate girls college buildings and female teachers. This not only deprives the girls of an equal opportunity for higher education but also results in continued unavailability of educated females for the health and the education sector. An approximately double teacher-student ratio for the girl students validates the assumption that the need for female education is there.

There are few refresher courses for school teachers. The teachers are not appropriately trained for teaching. Many schools do not function due to the absence of teaching staff. Buildings of the schools hardly meet the needs. Most of the primary schools are single room schools and the students have to sit sometimes in the open air.

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