World Bank Data-Sheet: Less spending on education puts Pakistan below Afghanistan

Pakistan's public expenditure on education as percentage of GDP stood at 2.2 percent, ranking it below Afghanistan (4.6 percent), while the literacy rate increased from 58 percent to 60 percent, revealed the Economic Survey (2015-16) released Thursday.
Public expenditure on education as percentage to GDP is estimated at 2.2 percentage in fiscal year 2015 as compared to 2.1 percentage of GDP in fiscal year 2014, showing an increase of 4.8 percent. According to World Bank Data Sheet, the latest available Public Sector expenditure on Education as percentage of GDP, in other countries of the region was 2 percent in Bangladesh, 4.6 percent in Afghanistan, 6 percent in Bhutan, 3.8 percent in India, 3.1 percent in Iran and 5.2 percent in Maldives.
According to the latest Pakistan Social and Living Standards Measurement (PSLM) Survey 2015, the literacy rate of the population (10 years and above) is 60 percent as compared to 58 percent in 2014. The literacy rate for males during 2015 was 70 percent and for females 49 percent which shows a gap of 21 percent that needs to be bridged with available resources. The data shows that literacy rate is higher in urban areas (76 percent) than in rural areas (51 percent). Province wise data suggests that Punjab leads with 63 percent followed by Sindh with 60 percent, Khyber Pakhtunkhawa with 53 percent and Balochistan with 44 percent.
According to the survey overall education situation is based on indicators such as likely enrolments, number of institutes and teachers have witnessed slight improvement. The total number of enrolments during 2015 was recorded at 43.95 million as compared to 42.09 million during the same period last year. This indicates an increase of 4.4 percent and it is estimated to increase to 45.17 million during 2016. At national level, the total number of institutes stood at 252.56 thousand during 2015 as compared to 241.61 thousand last year, showing an increase of 4.5 percent. However, the number of institutes is estimated to increase to 257.47 thousands during 2016. The number of teachers during 2015 was recorded at 1.59 million as compared to 1.53 million during last year showing an increase of 3.9 percent. The number of teachers is estimated to increase further to 1.62 million during the year 2016
The Net Enrolment Rate (NER) at the national level during 2015 remained stable at 57 percent compared to last year. Province wise comparison reveals that Punjab NER declined to 61 percent in 2015 as compared to 64 percent in 2014. Sindh NER improved to 51 percent in 2015 as compared to 48 percent in 2014; while NER of Khyber Pakhtunkhawa witnessed a slight improvement at 56 percent in 2015 as compared to 54 percent in 2014. Balochistan also witnessed a significant improvement of 46 percent in 2015 as compared to 39 percent in 2014.
In 2016, there were 170 universities with 94.03 thousand teachers in both private and public sectors while during 2015, the overall enrolment of students in higher education (universities) was estimated at 1.30 million as compared to 1.59 million over the corresponding period of last year. During 2016, the enrolment is expected to be 1.29 million.