The European Union (EU) will provide all basic educational facilities, including female teachers, to 1,000 government-run primary schools in Balochistan under the Balochistan Education Support Program (BESP).

The BESP is an education support program in collaboration with the EU and the UNICEF. It was launched in Quetta on Wednesday.

Governor Balochistan Mohammad Khan Achakzai said the provincial textbook board’s books have have mistakes on every page and need to be reviewed.

“Over 3,000 teachers would be given training and new female teachers would be appointed on contractual basis to overcome the lack of teachers for girls across the province,” said EU Ambassador Jean-Francois Cautain during the inauguration ceremony.

Under the BESP, 7.4 million Euros would be spent to bring an end to cheating in the province during examinations, ensure real-time monitoring and parent-teacher cooperation for improvement of schools in the province.

“In Balochistan, there are 5,000 single-room primary schools with only one teacher, and in total there are 13,000 primary schools in the province,” said Education Minister Abdul Rahim Ziaratwal while addressing a press conference after the ceremony.

He added that the dropout rate after primary schooling was more than 60 per cent.

The provincial government has declared emergency with regards to education and announced implementation of article 25-a of the Constitution, which says the state “shall provide free and compulsory education to all children of the age of five to sixteen years in such manner as may be determined by law.”