Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Government Increases Education Budget by 11%

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has increased the education budget for the fiscal year 2025–26 from Rs. 327 billion to Rs. 363 billion — an 11% increase from the current fiscal year.

The provincial budget for 2025–26 was presented in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly, in which the government allocated special funds to provide basic facilities in schools.

These funds will be used to repair classrooms and provide teaching materials for 5.9 million students in 32,500 schools, along with the promotion of extracurricular activities.

A total of Rs. 1,593 million has been allocated for female teachers in girls’ community schools. Additionally, Rs. 8,545 million has been earmarked for the provision of free textbooks, and a girls’ cadet college will be established in Dera Ismail Khan.

Similarly, Rs. 855 million has been allocated for the preservation and restoration of 10 historic schools in the province. For the next fiscal year, a target has been set to enroll 50% of out-of-school children. To address the shortage of teachers, Rs. 1 billion will be provided through parent-teacher councils.

The government has also increased the higher education budget from Rs. 36 billion to Rs. 50 billion. An amount of Rs. 2,772 million will be spent on converting public colleges into centers of applied sciences and technology.

In addition to the establishment of five new colleges at a cost of Rs. 3.5 billion, the budget for universities has been increased from Rs. 3 billion to Rs. 10 billion. Furthermore, Rs. 1,240 million has been added to the Higher Education Scholarship Endowment Fund.