Correct Answer:
B. Poverty & low demand
The Out of School Children (OOSC) crisis refers to the alarming number of children who are not enrolled in any educational institution, a significant development challenge in Pakistan.
A major reason for the OOSC crisis is Poverty & low demand. Widespread poverty forces many families to prioritize immediate survival, leading to children being engaged in child labor or household chores to supplement family income. This economic pressure often results in parents not seeing the immediate value or affordability of education, thus reducing the demand for schooling.
- Too many schools (A) is illogical; a lack of accessible and quality schools is often a contributing factor, not an excess.
- Free textbooks (C) are an incentive for schooling, designed to reduce educational costs, and therefore do not contribute to children being out of school.
- High literacy rate (D) would indicate successful education, not a crisis of OOSC; Pakistan actually struggles with a relatively low literacy rate.