Islamabad, March 15, 2026: The Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training has set a target to enroll 25,000 out-of-school children in the Islamabad Capital Territory within the next three months as part of a three-year rolling plan aimed at bringing all out-of-school children into the education system.
To support the initiative, the government also plans to establish new community schools in areas identified as hotspots where large numbers of children remain out of school.
Federal Secretary for Education Nadeem Mahbub, while discussing the launch of the comprehensive enrollment drive, said the initiative follows the recently announced “No Child Left Behind” campaign by Federal Minister for Education Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui.
Field teams from several institutions, including the Federal Directorate of Education, National Commission for Human Development, Basic Education Community Schools, and the National Education Foundation, have been mobilized across the capital to implement the campaign.
According to the secretary, both formal and non-formal education departments are executing a “Carpet Coverage Plan” at the union council level. Under this strategy, teams are conducting door-to-door surveys to identify out-of-school children and facilitate their immediate enrollment in nearby schools.
To strengthen outreach, the ministry has also engaged university students as volunteers to help identify and enroll children in their local communities. International NGOs and local civil society organizations are also partnering with the government to support the drive at the grassroots level.
Mahbub said new community schools will be established close to students’ homes to make education more accessible and address the specific learning needs of children who have remained outside the formal education system.
He added that progress will be reviewed on a weekly basis to ensure the initiative stays on track, reaffirming the government’s commitment to ensuring that every child has access to education.
