Pakistan ranked 113th out of 120 countries in the `Education for All Index' and performed worse than other South Asian countries and similar developing countries with very high out-of-school population of seven million, said a World Bank report titled "Pakistan Country Snapshot states. Pakistan was unlikely to meet the Millennium Development Goal of universal primary education by 2015, cautioned the UN Development Programme's report based on current trends.
"Although Pakistan has made progress in education, it still faces major challenges in school participation, completion and student achievement," the report added. Pakistan has a very high out-of-school population of seven million, with two-thirds of them girls, although enrolment rates vary appreciably between and within provinces. Standardised tests suggested that student achievement is very low. A sizable share of school leavers did not achieve even minimum master of mathematics, reading or language, as defined by the government, the report stated.
The report further said that both access and quality of education were also an issue at the post-secondary level. Employers complained about the lack of a skilled labour force, as less than eight per cent of the workforce has received formal training. In tertiary education, Pakistan's Gross Enrolment Rate (GER) was at six per cent, lagging behind the neighbouring countries such as India (13.5pc), and significantly behind middle-income countries such as Malaysia (30pc).
The main contributing factors included poor teacher quality and performance, and weak governance and accountability in the public education system, the dominant provider of education services in the country. Since the 18th amendment was passed in 2010, the management and financing of education has been decentralised to the provinces. But national standards needed to be set and their achievements monitored to address disparities in educational opportunities between and within provinces, with a minimum level for quality. The federal government should play this role and co-ordinate and facilitate the provision of "education for all.
The report further said that education participation was inequitable, even at the primary level. Girls, children from poor families, rural children, and children from some traditionally-disadvantaged social groups have very low enrolment rates. Children from poor households appeared to suffer a large participation disadvantage at all levels: only 43pc of children aged six to 10, belonging to the poorest wealth quintiles, are enrolled in school. In Punjab, female participation is 61pc at the primary level, 10pc points lower than male participation, driven by gender differences in rural areas and among poor households. Pakistan's private sector has emerged as an important alternative to government schools, even for poor families. This increase in private sector schooling is potentially triggered by poor public service delivery. Studies have documented the large achievement gap between private and government schools.
"Today, nearly a third of primary and secondary students in Pakistan attend private schools: 31pc of boys and 33pc of girls aged six to 10. Evidence also confirmed that private programmes are increasingly reaching low-income and rural households, and that they are far more cost-effective in providing education than government schools. Recognising the issues in education and the underlying sources, the government has undertaken multifaceted, medium-term sector reform programmes over the last decade, at both the federal and provincial levels, the report added.
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