The government school system in Gwadar follows the national pattern. It is divided into three stages: primary, middle, and high. The entry point to the primary stage is kachi which is actually first part of class one, while the second part is pakki. In this way the student spends two years to pass class one. After class one four more years are required to pass primary stage (class 5). Middle stage (class 6 to 8) is of 3 years’ duration and high section (class 9 and 10) is of two years. In order to get a secondary school certificate a total of 11 years’ schooling is required.

There are 146 boys and 28 girls primary schools in the district. About two third (66.6%) of these schools are single teacher schools. Fourteen of these schools have been mosque schools which have now been awarded the status of primary schools. Usually a Junior Vernacular Teacher (JVT) is appointed in a primary school. In mosque schools both the boys and girls study up to the primary level. The teacher-student ratio data in boys primary schools ranges from 1:26 to 1:33 and for girls primary schools this ratio ranges from 1:104 to 1:135.

Amongst the 28 girls primary schools, 11 are established through community support. All these 11 schools were initiated by the community with efforts of the Society for Community Support for Primary Education. A Village Education Committee (VEC) is constituted amongst the villagers where at least 75 percent of the residents are willing to open a girls primary school. This committee supervises the functioning of the school. A local middle pass girl is identified and recruited as a teacher. Space for the school and the teacher’s remuneration for the initial 3 months is provided by the community. After 3 months the government approves and finances the school if its performance is satisfactory. After 3 years the government constructs the school building on the land provided by the community, provided that funds are available.

There are 4 private schools in the district of which one is up to middle level while other are primary schools. One of these primary schools is the Agha Khan School. It was established in 1905. At present this school has 228 students and 12 teachers. The only private middle school and one primary school at Pasni is being run by a province-wide NGO, Pak Public Development Society. The teachers in these schools are paid a reasonable remuneration. The monthly tuition fee for each student ranges between 160 to 300 rupees while every year 400 to 500 rupees are charged as admission fee and 200 rupees as annual fund. The enrolment in these schools is increasing as the parents think that the educational standard at these schools is good.

The Government of Pakistan has recently established a Technical Training Centre at Gwadar with World Bank assistance. The classes have not started yet but are expected to start functioning this year. This centre will provide training in various trades including electrician, motor winding, television and radio mechanic, wood work and boat-making, welding and sheet metal, refrigeration and air conditioning, and plumbing and fitting. There is training capacity of 8 students in each trade while the duration of courses ranges from 6 months to one year. The teaching staff of this centre consists one Chief Instructor, 6 Senior Instructors, and 11 Junior Instructors. Computer programming and net-making are the most demanded and needed trades for future plans.

A computer training institute is also functional in the private sector at Gwadar. It was established in July 1996. This institute is providing training in dBase, Basic, DOS, Lotus 123, and Word Perfect. The computer laboratory is equipped with 9 computers. Monthly fee is rupees 650 per student.

In Gwadar district, there are 10 boys and 3 girls middle schools. These schools provide education up to the 8th grade which includes a primary section as well. Ideally the staff of a middle school comprises Secondary School Teachers, Junior English Teachers, Junior Arabic Teachers, Drawing Master, Physical Training Instructor, Mualim-ul-Quran, and Junior Vernacular Teachers. The teacher-student ratio in the primary section of the boys middle schools is 1:31 and in girls middle schools is 1:60. This ratio for middle sections of the boys middle schools and girls middle schools is 1:8 and 1:19 respectively.

Gwadar district has 9 boys and one girls high schools. All the high schools in the district have all the 3 sections: primary, middle, and high. In addition to the sanctioned teaching staff for a middle school, every high school is considered to have a head master/ mistress and subject specialists. There is one model high school at Gwadar under a Principal, however it is without electricity and science teachers. In the boys high schools teacher-student ratio for the primary, middle, and high sections is 1:48, 1:23, and 1:13 respectively. For the female students in the girls high schools this ratio is 1:1,172 for the primary section, 1:20 for the middle section, and 1:38 for the high section.

The district has two intermediate colleges: one for boys and another for girls. The students are taught both science and arts subjects in these colleges. In 1996, there were 220 boys and 30 girls at the intermediate level. There are 16 teaching posts at the boys college out of which 7 are vacant. At present, 4 Assistant Professors and 7 Lecturers are teaching the boys as well as the girls classes. The attendance of students as well as teachers and cleanliness at the campus was appreciable.

The girls of the district do not have a separate college building and female teachers. The classes are held in the building of the boys college. The girl students are taught by the male teachers of the boys college in the afternoon. The male teachers are paid an honorarium of rupees 1200 for teaching the girl students. In this way the Government of Balochistan is not only saving a big amount of teachers’ salaries but also does not have to spend money on the girls college building. On the other hand, absence of a separate college building and female teachers is a major reason behind the small number of regular girl students at the intermediate college.

There is only one District Education Officer (DEO) for males in Gwadar district who administers the government schools system in the district. The DEO (female) has her office at Turbat. Both are assisted by Sub Divisional Education Officers and other auxiliary staff. Every high school is headed by a Head Master (in BPS 17), middle school by a Senior Science Teacher as Head Master (in BPS 16), and primary schools are headed by a senior Junior Vernacular Teacher (in BPS 7).

The building of primary schools in Gwadar district usually comprises only one room, either kacha (made of mud or un-baked bricks) or pakka (made of baked bricks or cement blocks) and even this one room is not available in some schools. There are 48 shelterless primary schools out of which 11 are for girls. The boundary wall is not present outside some of the girls primary schools. A toilet is a rare facility in the primary schools. It was told that 6 of these primary schools are under construction.

Usually a middle school is provided with 5 class rooms and toilet facilities. According to the specifications provided by the Department of Education, a boundary wall is not necessarily provided outside the girls middle schools. The high schools are supposed to have 15-20 class rooms with toilet and boundary.

Although a budget for construction and repair work of the school buildings is allocated on district basis, the Third Education Project and the Primary Education Department are responsible for using this budget. The planning for construction work is centralised and the concerned headmaster is rarely consulted in this regard. This practice sometimes results in inappropriate utilisation of funds.

The provincial government is the main actor in the provision of educational facilities to the people in Gwadar. The Primary Education Development Project in collaboration with the Primary Education Quality Improvement Programme has sub-contracted the Rural Community Development Council for opening girls primary schools through community support process. This council has succeeded in opening about 11 such schools in Gwadar district. The private sector is also involved in imparting education through primary schools.

The girls in Gwadar face great problems in getting college education in the absence of separate girls college buildings and of female teachers. This not only deprives the girls of an equal opportunity for higher education but also results in unavailability of educated females for employment in the health and education sectors. More than 3 times teacher-student ratio for the girl students validates this assumption (88.2 as compared to 25.5).

Educational opportunities are critical for the development of the district. For women it enables them to raise their productivity and bring more income into families. It would ensure a more confident and productive work force, which till now has been marginalised. Education of girls and women will lead to better health and hygiene conditions and better outputs in the other sectors, where women’s labour is involved, e.g. agriculture and livestock. In this regard education will have to be expanded and improved. More and trained female teachers can lessen the girls/teacher ratio in girls schools.

The girl students of the district at the secondary level have only one high school at Gwadar. This only girls high school is deprived of electricity, even though the electricity bill has been paid. There is no science teacher and subject specialist. Water supply is insufficient, even for drinking, therefore the newly built toilet facility is useless. The girl students are discriminated at the college also. The college bus, on which they commute, charges 400 rupees per month to girl students as fare while this fare is 300 rupees per month for the boy students. This inequality in educational opportunities should invite the attention of policy makers.

There are few refresher courses for school teachers. The teachers are not appropriately trained for teaching. Many schools do not function due to the absence of teaching staff. The buildings of the schools hardly meet the needs. Most of the primary schools are single room schools and the students have to sit under the trees or sky in some schools.