WB report further stated that Balochistan has experienced several periods of internal conflict arising from a mixture of issues linked to politics, geography, religion and ethnicity. The current security situation is volatile with an increase in the number of violent incidents over the last several years. In addition, a series of natural disasters (floods and earthquakes) have added to the vulnera
bility of the province. The delivery of education services are severely impacted by economic, political and security challenges that the country has been facing for some years. Balochistan's outcomes for education, especially female education, have been considerably lower than those of the other provinces. WB report stated that the access to schooling is a serious challenge in a geographically wide-spread area with small, sparsely populated communities. Out of roughly 12,000 settlements in the province, 40 percent do not have access to a school. Where schools are present, they are in poor shape: approximately 7 percent of schools lack a building and are functioning in temporary shelters or without shelter; the buildings of existing schools also suffer from severe neglect and disrepair. Schools lack teaching and learning materials and teachers are poorly equipped to support learning outcomes. Various estimates done by the education department indicate that over 1 million children remain out of school. Fiscal difficulties further compound the service delivery challenges requiring support from local stakeholders for implementation and technical, as well as fiscal support from donor partners. Institutional weaknesses, mainly due to lack of resources, inefficient planning, lack of adequate data and its use for planning, and low capacity have been a hindrance to progress in education outcomes. Additionally, the mobility constraints faced by province and district staff due to the deteriorating security situation has been a major roadblock in effective planning and implementation in education service delivery.
