Pakistan Journal of Social Sciences (PJSS) Vol. 39, No. 3, (2019), pp. 785-794 The Sociological Study of Educational Exclusion of School Age Children in South Punjab (Pakistan) Zahid Zulfiqar PhD Scholar Sociology, Department of Sociology Government College University Faisalabad Email: ranazahidzulfiqar@gmail.com Muhammad Shabbir Ch. Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology Government College University Faisalabad Email: drmshabbir@gcuf.edu.pk Abstract: Primary education is the basic right of every child without discrimination of sex, caste, ancestry etc. Education is the secret behind the development of the society. It is very unfortunate that there were a number of children who especially belongs to South Punjab were excluded from the primary education. There were many factors behind this phenomenon such as, low socio-economic status of parents, future uncertainty, school distance, insecurities, lack of communication etc. The objectives of the current research were to examine the household heads, characteristics and to explore the exclusionary factors behind the exclusion of children in primary education. The qualitative research was used for conducting the research. Focus Group Discussion (FGD) was used as a tool for gathering qualitative data. The household heads (N=63) whose children were excluded from primary education were selected as participants for the Focus Group Discussion (FGD). It was found that low socio-economic status of the household led towards exclusion of children from primary education. There were also other exclusionary factors faced by school age children in South Punjab such as gender discrimination; long school distance; poor school environment and non-availability of the transportation. It is suggested that the government should have to increase educational budget and provide free primary education (books, note books, free tuition fee, uniform, stationary and scholarship) to the primary school age children in South Punjab in a real sense. Keywords: Primary education, gender inequality, South Punjab I. Introduction Primary education has an important contribution for the development of society. The investment in the primary education ensures the better returns and the society will moves toward progress and prosperity. It has been noted that educational budget does matter for the development of the society. There are many successful stories of the countries such as Sri Lanka, South Korea, Malaysia, Maldives and Singapore who focused the primary education and achieved good status in the world. It’s the hard luck of