Unacceptable Conditions.

The Basic Education Community Schools (BECS) was an initiative of the government kickstarted in 1995, with the aim to increase the reach of quality education provided by public and private schools to underprivileged out-of-school-children (OOSC) aged 4-16, who traditionally lacked access to such formal schools. It was intended to be a temporary programme, with the plan that the formal schooling system would eventually fill the supply side gap.

Almost thirty years later, it is evident that such phasing out never happened, and the formal schooling system remains abysmal. In that context, BECS becomes crucial in ensuring that at least some access to quality education is available to children from families of lower-income households, or even children with no families or homeless children. Over the years, BECS has been expanded, with the government devolving BECS schools across Pakistan to the respective provincial governments while the federal government remains in operational control of approximately 248 schools in Islamabad.

It is unfortunate to witness that even despite knowing the importance that this equalising programme can have in the circumstances of a poor formal system, respective governments have made lacklustre efforts in keeping up the quality of BECS schools. According to...