ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Education and Professional Training Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui on Feb 25 officially launched the No Child Left Behind campaign to bring all out-of-school children into classrooms within the next three years.
Pakistan has an alarming 26 million out-of-school children across the country, with no exception in the federal capital, where thousands of children remain out of school.
According to the Ministry of Education, the drive is a focused and time-bound initiative aimed at enrolling every out-of-school child in the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) and ensuring sustainable, quality learning opportunities for all.
The minister said there is a need to work collectively with communities and other stakeholders to make the campaign successful. “We need to assess whether there is a shortage of schools.
Three-year drive focuses on mapping, double shifts, ALPs and data monitoring
If so, we can use private houses, mosques and other buildings for this purpose.
We can introduce double shifts in schools. Accelerated Learning Programmes will also be useful for this initiative,” he said, adding that the ministry, with the support of the prime minister, will leave no stone unturned to make the campaign a success.
An official statement said the campaign, spearheaded by the education ministry, reflects the government’s commitment to fulfilling its constitutional responsibility under Article 25-A, which guarantees free and compulsory education to every child.
Describing the initiative as “a mission of inclusion and accountability,” the minister emphasised that the government will mobilise maximum resources, strengthen institutional coordination and implement innovative strategies to ensure that no child in ICT remains out of school due to poverty, social barriers, disability or other challenges.
He said the government has planned to identify and bring back as many children to school within three years
“Under the Federal Action Plan for Out-of-School Children (2025–2030), the ICT-level drive will conduct comprehensive household-level identification and mapping across union councils to accurately register out-of-school children, expand second shifts, Accelerated Learning Programmes (ALPs) and alternative education pathways to increase school absorption capacity, and deploy digital dashboards and real-time monitoring systems,” the minister said.
He added that there is a need to mobilise parents, community leaders, civil society and development partners to create shared ownership of the initiative.
“This is not merely an announcement, it is an operational and measurable commitment,” the minister said. “We will ensure maximum enrolment, sustained retention and quality learning outcomes.”
Meanwhile, the Islamabad Capital Territory Private Educational Institutions Regulatory Authority (ICT-PEIRA) has initiated an enrolment data collection and regularisation drive aimed at ensuring accurate student records across all private educational institutions in ICT.
A meeting chaired by Dr Ghulam Ali Mallah, Chairman ICT-PEIRA, was held with representatives of private schools, the Federal Directorate of Education (FDE), the Federal Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education (FBISE), and ICT-PEIRA officials to discuss collaborative measures.
A statement said the focus of the meeting was not punitive action but partnership, facilitation and data accuracy to strengthen educational planning in the capital territory.
Dr Mallah emphasised that maintaining verified and authentic enrolment data is essential to determine the exact number of children currently studying in schools. The initiative will enable the government to accurately identify the number of out-of-school children in each union council of ICT and formulate targeted strategies to achieve the federal minister’s vision of zero out-of-school children in Islamabad.
“We are not here to create difficulties for schools. We are here to work together,” Dr Mallah said. “Accurate data will help us identify gaps, support underserved areas and ensure that every child in ICT is enrolled in school. We will review data union council by union council to leave no child behind.”
In response to requests from representatives of private educational institutions, ICT-PEIRA announced a one-time amnesty from March 1 to April 30, 2026, for schools with pending renewal cases. During this facilitation period, institutions may submit applications for registration or renewal without penalty for late submission.
The statement said the authority encouraged all school representatives to provide updated lists of institutions operating within their respective areas to ensure that every institution becomes part of the regulatory and support framework.
Dr Mallah reiterated that the objective of the exercise is to promote transparency, strengthen planning, improve educational access and uplift the overall quality of education in the Islamabad Capital Territory.
Published in Dawn, February 26th, 2026.
