ISLAMABAD: The cumulative education expenditures by federal and provincial governments declined as a percentage of GDP in the fiscal year 2023 and is estimated at 1.5 per cent of GDP compared to 1.7 per cent of GDP in the previous year.
The Economic Survey 2023-24 noted that expenditures on education-related activities during fiscal year 2023 increased 13.6 per cent and reached Rs 1,251.06billion from Rs 1,101.7 billion.
During 2021-22, the Pakistan Social and Living Standards Measurement (PSLM) Survey was not conducted by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) due to the scheduled Population and Housing Census 2022.
Therefore, the figures for the latest survey regarding GER and NER may be considered for the analysis.
However, according to the Labour Force Survey 2020-21, the literacy rate was 62.8 per cent in 2020-21 as compared to 62.4 per cent in 2018-19, higher in males (increased from 73.0 per cent in 2018-19 to 73.4 per cent in 2020-21) than females (from 51.5 per cent to 51.9 per cent for the same period).
Area-wise analysis suggest literacy increased in both rural areas from 53.7 per cent in 2018-19 to 54.0 per cent in 2020-21, while in urban areas, it increased from 76.1 per cent in 2018-19 to 77.3 per cent in 2020- 21. The male-female disparity seems to be narrowing down over time. The literacy rate has gone up in all provinces, with Punjab (increased 66.1 per cent to 66.3 per cent), Sindh (61.6 per cent to 61.8 per cent), Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (52.4 per cent to 55.1 per cent), and Balochistan (53.9 per cent to 54.5 per cent).
The literacy rate (10 years and older) is 60 per cent, showing that males are more literate than females. Punjab is at the top, while Balochistan is at the bottom. Youth literacy (15- 24 years) is 72 per cent (male: 79 per cent and female: 65 per cent). The province-wise comparative situation is the same, with higher disparities for females than males in youth literacy rates. The adult literacy rate is 57 per cent (male: 68 per cent and female: 46 per cent), which indicates that the adult male population is more literate than the adult female population.
In the PSLM 2019-20, the out-of-school children (OOSC) rate was 32 per cent in the country, with a higher rate of female OOSC (37 per cent) than males (27 per cent). Punjab had a 24 per cent OOSC rate, Sindh 44 per cent, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa 32 per cent, and Balochistan 47 per cent. In all provinces, more females were out of school than males.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024
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