There is little dispute that Pakistan’s public education system is in shambles. Some say it is a complete disaster. Reports compiled by both national and international agencies continue to underline the hopelessness of the situation but little progress is being made towards rescuing a sector which holds the key to the nation’s long-term survival and stability.
The list of problems is long and painful. Despite numerous education policies, the literacy rate has remained abysmally low and universal primary education remains a distant dream. We are among the few nations who failed to meet the Education For All target. There are more than a dozen education systems working in parallel in the country, with the education gap between the rich and the poor ever widening. The enrolment rate is low, while the dropout rate is high. The sector’s woes are endless.
According to the Pakistan Education Statistics report for 2014-2015, a staggering 24 million Pakistani children are out of school. Of the 50.8 million children aged five to 16 in the country, 47 per cent do not receive any kind of education. Of the 24 million who are not in school, more are girls — 12.8 million compared to 11.2 million boys. The PES report also reveals that 69 per cent of children enrolled at primary school level drop out by the fifth year. Only 28pc last until class 10.
Enrolment and retention vary from province to province. Balochistan’s and Fata’s retention rates until class five are the lowest at 34pc and 32pc respectively, while Gilgit-Baltistan and Islamabad have the highest rates at 93pc and 92pc respectively, with the overall national average at 69pc. Enrolment drops drastically after the primary level, but more steeply so for girls than boys. Boys continue to outnumber girls at every stage of education. Nearly 10m boys and 8.1m girls are enrolled at the primary level. The figure drops to 1.9milion boys and 1.4m girls at the higher level, and just 1m boys and 700,000 girls at the higher secondary level.
The situation is especially alarming in rural areas due to social and cultural factors. One of the most deplorable aspects is that in some places, particularly northern tribal areas, the education of girls is strictly prohibited on religious grounds. The situation is more critical in Khyber Pukhtunkhwa and Balochistan, where the female literacy rate stands between 3 per cent and 8 per cent. Poverty is also a big hurdle to girls' education. According to UNICEF, 17.6 per cent of Pakistani children are working and supporting their families. Indeed, children —more girls than boys — working as domestic help is a common sight in our society.
Some government organizations and non-governmental organizations have tried to open formal and informal schools in rural areas, but the local landlords oppose such efforts out of fear that if people become literate they will stop doing their bidding. Unfortunately, the government has not so far taken any steps to promote literacy or girls’ education in these areas. It is even reluctant to help NGOs or other small political or religious parties do the job, because it needs the support of local landlords and chieftains who, as members of the two major political parties, are regularly elected to the national assembly.
Available data shows that although the number of out-of-school children (OOSC) has decreased by 1 million ─ from 25m to 24m ─ and retention rates have improved over the last year, almost half of all children between the ages of five and 16 are out of school and more than 18m have never seen the inside of a classroom. Gender disparity in school enrolment rates is also a growing problem: over half of all girls are out of school compared to 43pc of boys. Nearly 24m ─ 47pc ─ of Pakistan’s estimated 51m children between the ages of five and 16 are out of school. Of the 24m out-of-school children, 18.6m have never attended school, while 5.4m enrolled at some point but dropped out. Balochistan has the highest proportion of out-of-school children, followed by the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata). As much as 70pc of children in Balochistan and 60pc in Fata are out of school. Despite a five-year trend depicting increasing enrolment rates, many children are still out of school and more girls than boys are not in school ─ 12.8m girls remain out of school compared to 11.2m boys.
It is important to remember that 87pc of primary schools are public schools, but there is a greater proportion of private schools providing middle and higher education. This is so because 80pc of government schools are primary schools, while only 11pc are middle schools, 8pc high schools and 1pc higher secondary schools. Sixty-two percent of all students in the education stream attend government schools, but only 20 percent of all government schools provide higher education. The gap is filled by private schools, but given the rising poverty levels, not everyone can afford private education,
A major reason why children drop out of school is lack of basic facilities. Some improvements have been made in school infrastructure lately, but many schools do not have buildings, or the buildings are in a dilapidated condition. In a large number of schools, facilities like toilets, drinking water and electricity are missing. The problem is most acute in Azad Jammu and Kashmir, where 31pc of government schools and an additional 29pc of single-classroom schools operate without a building. Sindh's government schools are even worse off than Balochistan's, with 17pc schools operating without a building, and an additional 32pc single-classroom schools without a building in comparison to Balochistan's 14pc and 30pc, respectively. Figures show that 44pc of government schools operate without electricity, 28pc without toilets and 34pc without drinking water.
Poor quality of teaching is said to be one of the main reasons for the high dropout rates in schools. But data reveals that 51pc of government school teachers have at least a Bachelor's degree in education. Of the 49pc who don't have university-level degrees, 30pc have a PTC qualification, while 8pc are communal teachers. Around 7pc have received some kind of training, while 1pc are untrained. The average student-teacher ratio in Pakistan is estimated to be 33:1.
As against the rising mountain of problems in the sector, Pakistan’s expenditure on education is one of the lowest in the world – just 2.4 percent of GDP. The comparative figures for other countries in the neighbourhood range between 4 and 7 percent. At the national level, 89% education expenditure comprises current expenses such as teachers’ salaries, while only 11% is devoted to development expenditure which is insufficient to raise the quality of education. What is worse, there is no mechanism to ensure efficient utilization of the allocated funds. Besides widespread wastage and leakage, in many cases funds lapse for lack of use.
The list of problems is long and painful. Despite numerous education policies, the literacy rate has remained abysmally low and universal primary education remains a distant dream. We are among the few nations who failed to meet the Education For All target. There are more than a dozen education systems working in parallel in the country, with the education gap between the rich and the poor ever widening. The enrolment rate is low, while the dropout rate is high. The sector’s woes are endless.
According to the Pakistan Education Statistics report for 2014-2015, a staggering 24 million Pakistani children are out of school. Of the 50.8 million children aged five to 16 in the country, 47 per cent do not receive any kind of education. Of the 24 million who are not in school, more are girls — 12.8 million compared to 11.2 million boys. The PES report also reveals that 69 per cent of children enrolled at primary school level drop out by the fifth year. Only 28pc last until class 10.
Enrolment and retention vary from province to province. Balochistan’s and Fata’s retention rates until class five are the lowest at 34pc and 32pc respectively, while Gilgit-Baltistan and Islamabad have the highest rates at 93pc and 92pc respectively, with the overall national average at 69pc. Enrolment drops drastically after the primary level, but more steeply so for girls than boys. Boys continue to outnumber girls at every stage of education. Nearly 10m boys and 8.1m girls are enrolled at the primary level. The figure drops to 1.9milion boys and 1.4m girls at the higher level, and just 1m boys and 700,000 girls at the higher secondary level.
The situation is especially alarming in rural areas due to social and cultural factors. One of the most deplorable aspects is that in some places, particularly northern tribal areas, the education of girls is strictly prohibited on religious grounds. The situation is more critical in Khyber Pukhtunkhwa and Balochistan, where the female literacy rate stands between 3 per cent and 8 per cent. Poverty is also a big hurdle to girls' education. According to UNICEF, 17.6 per cent of Pakistani children are working and supporting their families. Indeed, children —more girls than boys — working as domestic help is a common sight in our society.
Some government organizations and non-governmental organizations have tried to open formal and informal schools in rural areas, but the local landlords oppose such efforts out of fear that if people become literate they will stop doing their bidding. Unfortunately, the government has not so far taken any steps to promote literacy or girls’ education in these areas. It is even reluctant to help NGOs or other small political or religious parties do the job, because it needs the support of local landlords and chieftains who, as members of the two major political parties, are regularly elected to the national assembly.
Available data shows that although the number of out-of-school children (OOSC) has decreased by 1 million ─ from 25m to 24m ─ and retention rates have improved over the last year, almost half of all children between the ages of five and 16 are out of school and more than 18m have never seen the inside of a classroom. Gender disparity in school enrolment rates is also a growing problem: over half of all girls are out of school compared to 43pc of boys. Nearly 24m ─ 47pc ─ of Pakistan’s estimated 51m children between the ages of five and 16 are out of school. Of the 24m out-of-school children, 18.6m have never attended school, while 5.4m enrolled at some point but dropped out. Balochistan has the highest proportion of out-of-school children, followed by the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata). As much as 70pc of children in Balochistan and 60pc in Fata are out of school. Despite a five-year trend depicting increasing enrolment rates, many children are still out of school and more girls than boys are not in school ─ 12.8m girls remain out of school compared to 11.2m boys.
It is important to remember that 87pc of primary schools are public schools, but there is a greater proportion of private schools providing middle and higher education. This is so because 80pc of government schools are primary schools, while only 11pc are middle schools, 8pc high schools and 1pc higher secondary schools. Sixty-two percent of all students in the education stream attend government schools, but only 20 percent of all government schools provide higher education. The gap is filled by private schools, but given the rising poverty levels, not everyone can afford private education,
A major reason why children drop out of school is lack of basic facilities. Some improvements have been made in school infrastructure lately, but many schools do not have buildings, or the buildings are in a dilapidated condition. In a large number of schools, facilities like toilets, drinking water and electricity are missing. The problem is most acute in Azad Jammu and Kashmir, where 31pc of government schools and an additional 29pc of single-classroom schools operate without a building. Sindh's government schools are even worse off than Balochistan's, with 17pc schools operating without a building, and an additional 32pc single-classroom schools without a building in comparison to Balochistan's 14pc and 30pc, respectively. Figures show that 44pc of government schools operate without electricity, 28pc without toilets and 34pc without drinking water.
Poor quality of teaching is said to be one of the main reasons for the high dropout rates in schools. But data reveals that 51pc of government school teachers have at least a Bachelor's degree in education. Of the 49pc who don't have university-level degrees, 30pc have a PTC qualification, while 8pc are communal teachers. Around 7pc have received some kind of training, while 1pc are untrained. The average student-teacher ratio in Pakistan is estimated to be 33:1.
As against the rising mountain of problems in the sector, Pakistan’s expenditure on education is one of the lowest in the world – just 2.4 percent of GDP. The comparative figures for other countries in the neighbourhood range between 4 and 7 percent. At the national level, 89% education expenditure comprises current expenses such as teachers’ salaries, while only 11% is devoted to development expenditure which is insufficient to raise the quality of education. What is worse, there is no mechanism to ensure efficient utilization of the allocated funds. Besides widespread wastage and leakage, in many cases funds lapse for lack of use.
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