SWABI, Jan 12: The lure of free textbooks for students has failed to tackle the high dropout rate in the primary and middle-level schools of the province. Interviews with teachers and enrolment record reveal that all those opting out of schools belonged to poor families. While in some cases, harsh treatment of students by teachers also forced students away from the school.

Requesting anonymity, the teachers said the government scheme of free textbooks failed to work due to extreme poverty. All those quitting education were now engaged in odd jobs, helping their families to make ends meet, they added.

Unaware of the importance of education and faced with poverty, the family heads never forced their children to go to school, said the teachers.

"How can an illiterate family head know the importance of education – not just for his child but also for the economic revival of the family? It is this ignorance that leads to students opting out of schools," said a senior English teacher at a government school.

Another teacher pointed out that sometimes harsh treatment of students by their teachers and lack of interest on the part of parents also provoked students to leave the school.

Describing the general trend, a primary teacher with a 34-year experience, said: “A nursery class generally has 90 students. A few of them, say five, drop out after a month or so, followed by a few more after some time, and then another few. The trend continues so on and so forth. After five years, there are hardly 50 students left. This means about 40 of a total of 90 drop out before crossing the primary stage.”

He said most of the girls gave up education after passing class five mainly because of a conservative family background and security reasons.

Middle schoolteachers cited a few more factors raising the dropout rate after primary schooling.

“Incompetent students often get disheartened and abandon education,” said a teacher. "Last year, we had enrolled some 50 students in class six, but 10 of them left the school," he said.

‘Difficult’ subjects like mathematics and English had also caused many a student to leave the studies mid way.

"It was not possible for me to learn mathematics and English. I knew I would not be able to clear the SSC stage. So I opted to leave," said Ibrar Khan of Maneri Bala who left the school a month back.

Repeated failure of students is almost sure to result in the dropout if a headmaster is to be believed: “About 98 per cent of students failing twice or thrice think enough is enough."

Despite being banned by the government, corporal punishment is very much there to discourage the students.

Most of the teachers believe there was no way but to hand corporal punishment to some students. "I swear my students never learn without punishment," said a teacher.

A private schoolteacher even admitted breaking a finger of a student, and getting away without even a reprimand from the principal.