Efforts underway to tackle female student dropouts, says Balochistan minister

QUETTA: The Balochistan government is taking “decisive steps” to curb an alarming rate of female school dropouts by making feminine care products more affordable and accessible, the provincial education minister said.

Raheela Hameed Khan Durrani declared that ensuring access to essential women’s health products is now an “urgent educational imperative.” She linked the high cost of these items directly to widespread absenteeism, which she identified as a root cause of gender inequality in Balochistan’s schools.

The minister’s remarks came during a meeting with a delegation from the Menstrual Health and Hygiene Working Group Secretariat, Balochistan.

“Dignity is a fundamental constitutional right,” Ms Durrani said, highlighting that 89 per cent of adolescent girls in the province lack adequate facilities to manage their monthly cycles. She emphasised this affordability gap is a “primary, albeit silent, driver” of students leaving school.

Ms Durrani, who also serves as the chairperson of the Provincial MHH Tax Reforms Committee, said that essential health items must no longer be subjected to a ‘luxury tax’.

A dual strategy of legislative engagement and political lobbying is underway to reclassify the products as “essential goods” under provincial and federal tax law, she added.

Earlier, delegation members Shafqat Aziz and Shahana Tabbasum briefed the minister on efforts to enact the Provincial MHH Strategy (2025-2030) and their analysis of existing tax structures, including the Balochistan Sales Tax Act, 2015.

Published in Dawn, February 20th, 2026

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