District Pishin

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Sources:

Development Statistics of Balochistan, 2012-13, Bureau of Statistics, Government of Balochistan

Pakistan Social and Living Standard Measurement Survey, 2012-13, Government of Pakistan

District Census Report, 1998

“Pishin – District Development Profile, 2011”, Government of Balochistan.

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District Profile Pishin

1.0District Geography

1.1Location and Boundary

The district Pishin was separated from Quetta in 1975. It derives its name from an important town in the district. Pishin is a modernized form of „Pushang‟, which is an old Persian word for the Arabic name “Fushang”. Myths attribute the origin of the name to a son of the Emperor Afrasiab.

The district is located North of Quetta City, the provincial capital of Balochistan. Pishin district lies between 30° 04′ to 31° 17′ North latitudes and 66° 13′ to 67° 50′ East longitudes. The district is bounded by Killa Abdullah in the North, Killa Saifullah in the East, Quetta and Ziarat in the South and Afghanistan in the West. Its length from North to South is about 68 km and its width from East to West ranges from 8 to 38 km. Location of Pishin is at 670 km (aerial distance) south-west (240 degrees bearing) of Pakistan’s Capital City Islamabad.

Area-wise district Pishin ranks 18th largest in Balochistan and has an area of 7,874 Sq. Km Pishin District consists of 4 Tehsils and 38 UCs.

Map of Pishin District

Sources: District Development Atlas of Balochistan 2010, P&D Department Government of Balochistan and UNICEF

1.2Tribes, Ethnic Groups and Languages

The main tribes of the district are the Kakars, Tareens including Achakzai, and Syeds. The majority of the population comprises of the Kakar tribe. Prominent villages inhabited by the Kakar tribe include Sanzerkhail, Bayanzai, Mehtherzai, Bazai, Ahmadkhail,Panizai, Sargari and Gharsheen. The Syed majority villages are Gangalzai Syad, Sulamanzai Syed, Huramzai Syed, KakazaiSyed, Shakarzai Syed and Yaseenzai Syed. Haroonzai, Alizai and Abubakar Tareen are the areas where the Tareen tribe (including Achakzai) resides.

Pushto is the main language of the district. Formerly, Persian was used as the language for records and for correspondence; until the late 19thcentury, tombstones were also inscribed in Persian. The Tareen tribe in Pishin speaks the same language as spoken in Quetta, Gulistan and Dukki. It is similar to the language spoken in Kandahar. Those, who have settled away

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District Profile Pishin

from Pishin, speak local languages (Pushto), such as Multani or Saraiki in Multan, Hindko in Hazara, Urdu in Bhopal and Sindhi in Sindh. Tareeno, a dialect of Pashto, is spoken by Harnai Tareens.

1.3Topography

The general character of the district is mountainous. Its northern half is covered by Toba Plateau. The mountains are fairly uniform, with long central ridges from which frequent spurs descend. These spurs vary in elevation from about 1,500 to 3,300 meters. The district is comprised of a series of valleys with ground elevation ranging from 1,370–1,680 meters above Mean Sea Level, which are enclosed by the Toba Kakar Range to the North. Lora River and its tributaries serve as the major source meandering through Pishin.

1.4Climate

The climate of Pishin can be categorized as having delightful summers, dry and bitterly cold winters. Pishin lies outside the sphere of monsoon currents. The district experience storms in winter season. Rainy season is mostly in the months of December to April1.

1This section is largely benefited from “Pishin – District Development Profile, 2011”, Planning and Development Department, Government of Balochistan and District Census report, 1998.

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District Profile Pishin

2.0Socio-Economic Profile of the District

2.1Education and Literacy

This section highlights the major characteristics of schooling in the district by providing a situation analysis in terms of access, equality and quality of primary and secondary education. Moreover, besides providing the level of adult literacy, school facilities and physical characteristics are collated to gauge an idea of the quality of education in the district.

Access to education is generally gauged with reference to the gross and net enrolment rates, based on the relevant age group. Traditionally in Pakistan, enrolment rates are calculated on the basis of the age group, 5-9 years, and 10-14 years, for primary and secondary levels of education respectively. Therefore, following this precedent, these age groups are preferred for documentation of the educational status of children in terms of out-of-schooling and enrolments in public, private or religious institutions. Access and equality indicators are derived from (PSLM) surveys, while the available physical facilities in primary and secondary schools are ascertained from the Development Statistics of the province.

Exhibit 2.1.1 displays the educational status of children for the 5-9 age group. Overall, about 48 percent of children of the primary age group were out of school in the year 2013. The corresponding percentage for girl‟s enrollment is 56 percent. There is a dearth of private schools with about 4 percent of boys and 3 percent girls being enrolled in private institutions according to the estimates from household survey (PSLM, 2013). Moreover, the table indicates that about 3 percent of children in the 5-9 years age group were enrolled in religious schools during the survey year of 2013.

Exhibit 2.1.1

Educational Status of Children of 5-9 Years Age Group

[Percentage Distribution, 2012-13]

Exhibit 2.1.2 documents the educational status of children in the 10-14 age group. Overall, about 35 percent of children of the 10-14 age cohort were not attending school during 2013. The majority (about 53 percent out of 64 percent) of students were enrolled in government schools. Moreover, about 6 percent boys‟ enrollment and 7 percent girls‟ enrollment in religious school was also estimated from the PSLM 2013 data.

Exhibit 2.1.2

Educational Status of Children of 10-14 Years Age Group

[Percentage Distribution, 2012-13]

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District Profile Pishin

A summary index “Gender Parity Index (GPI)” is commonly used to assess gender differences. It is the value of an indicator for girls divided by that for boys. A value of less than one indicates a difference in favor of boys, whereas a value near one indicates that parity has been more or less achieved. Exhibit 2.1.3 is developed to document the prevalence in gender disparities in school enrolment for the children in primary and secondary age groups respectively. Relatively lower gender disparity is observed in the district as compared with the province for the school enrolment in the 5-9 age cohort (0.78 versus 0.69). A similar trend is observed in secondary school enrolment where the district magnitude of GPI is high as compared with that estimated for the province (0.50 versus 47).

Exhibit 2.1.3

Gender Parity Index in Primary and Secondary Enrollment [2012-13]

Source: Estimated from Household Level Data of PSLM, 2012-13

Exhibit 2.1.4 furnishes information regarding the number and type of education institutions as well as the number of teachers. This supply-side information is obtained from the provincial Development Statistics.

Exhibit 2.1.4

Teaching Institutions and Staff – Numbers [2011]

Source: Development Statistics of Balochistan, 2012-13, Government of Balochistan

Due to data constraints in terms of various indicators of quality inputs, this section only describes the available physical facilities in schools, which is the most important pillar of quality input to education. School buildings, drinking water, boundary walls, electricity and toilets for students, are considered basic facilities.

Exhibit 2.1.5 summarizes the extent of available facilities across various levels (primary, middle and high) of education. Electricity is available in only 14 percent of primary schools, while only 20 percent of primary schools operate in a building of satisfactory condition. About 3 percent of primary schools have no building, whereas about 62 percent run without boundary walls. Furthermore, about 79 percent of primary schools reported no latrine facility. The situation in high schools is however comparatively better. Electricity and drinking water are available in 67 percent and 77 percent of high schools respectively. The table also reveals that about 71-82percent of school buildings have „pacca‟ structures in middle and high schools.

District Profile Pishin

Exhibit 2.1.5

School Facilities and Physical Characteristic – 2011

[Percentage of Schools]

Source: Development Statistics of Balochistan, 2012-13, Government of Balochistan

According to the UNDP Human Development Report (2014), Pakistan has been placed 146thout of 187 countries in terms of the Human Development Index with overall adult literacy rate of

54.9percent. Over the years, several non-formal literacy programs were launched but these suffered from lack of political commitment, adequate financial support, weak implementation structures and absence of effective supervision and monitoring.

Exhibit 2.1.6 documents the adult (15 plus age cohort) literacy rates for the district. According to the table, literacy rates in the district are 50 percent for the overall population; 72 percent for males and 23 percent for females during the year 2012-13. The estimated corresponding literacy rates for the province are; 42 percent, 61 percent and 19 percent for overall, male and female populations respectively.

Exhibit 2.1.6

Adult Literacy Rate (%) [2012-13]

Source: Estimated from Household Level Data of PSLM, 2012-13

2.2Health

Health is the factor which plays the key role in determining the human capital. Better health improves the efficiency and the productivity of the labor force and thus ultimately contributes to economic growth and leads to human welfare. On the other hand, there is a strong relationship between poverty and poor health.

The health status of a region may be evaluated in terms of either input indicators (doctors, institutions etc.) or output indicators (Infant Mortality, Maternal Mortality, Life Expectancy etc.). Unfortunately, district-wise data on output indicators is not available in Pakistan from either published or unpublished materials. The latest Multiple Indicators Cluster Survey (MICS) which was conducted in 2010 in the province, reports district-wise various indicators, but the data on district-wise morality rates and life expectancy is not provided. Therefore, to gauge an idea about the health status in the target districts, data on maximum possible input indicators isolated in the following tables.

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District Profile Pishin

A rough sketch on child health is furnished in Exhibit 2.2.1. Only about 52 percent of children in the 12-23 months age cohort were reported fully immunized according to the recall and record method, while the corresponding percentage is even lower (39 percent) in households which provided records of immunization. It is encouraging that more than 80 percent of households reported the use of ORS for the treatment of diarrhea and consultation with physicians in the case of diarrhea. No noticeable gender discrimination is evident from the table.

Exhibit 2.2.1

Status of Child Health – Percentages [2012-13]

Some indicators of maternal health care are compiled in Exhibit 2.2.2. The information in the table reveals that only 20 percent reported having Tetanus Toxoid Injections. While an insignificant percentage of women reported post-natal care, about 42 percent of pertinent women confirmed pre-natal consultation. The situation in terms of child delivery is also miserable. Child delivery at home is reported by about 69 percent of households of rural areas. The corresponding percentage for the urban population is about 47 percent.

Exhibit 2.2.2

Status of Maternal Health – Percentage of Pertinent Women[2012-13]

The numbers of health institutions in the district during the year 2011-12 are collated in Exhibit 2.2.3, while the strength of the health staff in the district is depicted in Exhibit 2.2.4. A gloomy picture is evident in term of the district capacity to provide health facilities. Only 15 doctors and 2 nurses are available for every one hundred thousand („lakh‟) population, according to the statistics provided by the provincial official publications.