Education in Pakistan

Education in Pakistan is overseen by the Federal Ministry of Education and the provincial governments, whereas the federal government mostly assists in curriculum development, accreditation and in the financing of research and development. Article 25-A of Constitution of Pakistan obligates the state to provide free and compulsory quality education to children of the age group 5 to 16 years. "The State shall provide free and compulsory education to all children of the age of five to sixteen years in such a manner as may be determined by law".[3]

Education in Pakistan
Federal Ministry of Education
Literacy (2018[1])
Total62.3%
Male72.5%
Female51.8%
Enrollment
Total50,616,000[2]
Primary22,650,010[2]
Secondary2,884,400[2]
Post secondary1,949,000[2]

The education system in Pakistan[4] is generally divided into six levels: preschool (for the age from 3 to 5 years), primary (grades one through five), middle (grades six through eight), high (grades nine and ten, leading to the Secondary School Certificate or SSC), intermediate (grades eleven and twelve, leading to a Higher Secondary School Certificate or HSSC), and university programs leading to undergraduate and graduate degrees.[5]

The literacy rate ranges from 85% in Islamabad to 23% in the Torghar District.[6] Literacy rates vary regionally, particularly by sex. In tribal areas female literacy is 9.5%.,[7] while Azad Jammu & Kashmir has a literacy rate of 74%.[8] Moreover, English is fast spreading in Pakistan, with more than 92 million Pakistanis (49% of the population) having a command over the English language. On top of that, Pakistan produces about 445,000 university graduates and 80,000 computer science graduates per year.[9] Despite these statistics, Pakistan still has one of the lowest literacy rates in the world[10] and the second largest out of school population (22.8 million children)[11] after Nigeria.

Stages of formal education

Primary education
A primary school in a village in the Sindh region

Only 68% of Pakistani children finish primary school education.[12] The standard national system of education is mainly inspired from the English educational system. Pre-school education is designed for 3–5 years old and usually consists of three stages: Play Group, Nursery and Kindergarten (also called 'KG' or 'Prep'). After pre-school education, students go through junior school from grades 1 to 5. This is followed by middle school from grades 6 to 8. At middle school, single-sex education is usually preferred by the community, but co-education is also common in urban cities. The curriculum is usually subject to the institution. The eight commonly examined disciplines are:

Most schools also offer drama studies, music and physical education but these are usually not examined or marked. Home economics is sometimes taught to female students, whereas topics related to astronomy, environmental management and psychology are frequently included in textbooks of general science. Sometimes archaeology and anthropology are extensively taught in textbooks of social studies. SRE is not taught at most schools in Pakistan although this trend is being rebuked by some urban schools. Provincial and regional languages such as Punjabi, Sindhi, Pashto and others may be taught in their respective provinces, particularly in language-medium schools. Some institutes give instruction in foreign languages such as German, Turkish, Arabic, Persian, French and Chinese. The language of instruction depends on the nature of the institution itself, whether it is an English-medium school or an Urdu-medium school.

As of 2009, Pakistan faces a net primary school attendance rate for both sexes of 66 percent: a figure below estimated world average of 90 percent.[13]

Pakistan's poor performance in the education sector is mainly caused by the low level of public investment. As of 2007, public expenditure on education was 2.2 percent of GNPs, a marginal increase from 2 percent before 1984-85. In addition, the allocation of government funds is skewed towards higher education, allowing the upper income class to reap the majority of the benefits of public subsidy on education. Lower education institutions such as primary schools suffer under such conditions as the lower income classes are unable to enjoy subsidies and quality education. As a result, Pakistan has one of the lowest rates of literacy in the world and the lowest among countries of comparative resources and socio-economic situations.[14]

Secondary education

Secondary education in Pakistan begins from grade 9 and lasts for four years. After end of each of the school years, students are required to pass a national examination administered by a regional Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education (or BISE).

Upon completion of grade 9, students are expected to take a standardised test in each of the first parts of their academic subjects. They again give these tests of the second parts of the same courses at the end of grade 10. Upon successful completion of these examinations, they are awarded a Secondary School Certificate (or SSC). This is locally termed a 'matriculation certificate' or 'matric' for short. The curriculum usually includes a combination of eight courses including electives (such as Biology, Chemistry, Computer and Physics) as well as compulsory subjects (such as Mathematics, English, Urdu, Islamic studies and Pakistan Studies).

Students then enter an intermediate college and complete grades 11 and 12. Upon completion of each of the two grades, they again take standardised tests in their academic subjects. Upon successful completion of these examinations, students are awarded the Higher Secondary School Certificate (or HSSC). This level of education is also called the FSc/FA/ICS or 'intermediate'. There are many streams students can choose for their 11 and 12 grades, such as pre-medical, pre-engineering, humanities (or social sciences), computer science and commerce. Each stream consists of three electives and as well as three compulsory subjects of English, Urdu, Islamiat (grade 11 only) and Pakistan Studies (grade 12 only).

Alternative qualifications in Pakistan are available but are maintained by other examination boards instead of BISE. Most common alternative is the General Certificate of Education (or GCE), where SSC and HSSC are replaced by Ordinary Level (or O Level) and Advanced Level (or A Level) respectively. Other qualifications include IGCSE which replaces SSC. GCE and GCSE O Level, IGCSE and GCE AS/A Level are managed by British examination boards of CIE of the Cambridge Assessment and/or Edexcel International of the Pearson PLC. Generally, 8-10 courses are selected by students at GCE O Levels and 3-5 at GCE A Levels.

Advanced Placement (or AP) is an alternative option but much less common than GCE or IGCSE. This replaces the secondary school education as 'High School Education' instead. AP exams are monitored by a North American examination board, College Board, and can only be given under supervision of centers which are registered with the College Board, unlike GCE O/AS/A Level and IGCSE which can be given privately.

Another type of education in Pakistan is called "Technical Education" and combines technical and vocational education. The vocational curriculum starts at grade 5 and ends with grade 10.[15] Three boards, the Punjab Board of Technical Education (PBTE), KPK Board of Technical Education (KPKBTE) and Sindh Board of Technical Education (SBTE) offering Matric Tech. course called Technical School Certificate (TSC) (equivalent to 10th grade) and Diploma of Associate Engineering (DAE) in engineering disciplines like Civil, Chemical, Architecture, Mechanical, Electrical, Electronics, Computer etc. DAE is a three years program of instructions which is equivalent to 12th grade. Diploma holders are called associate engineers. They can either join their respective field or take admission in B.Tech. and BE in their related discipline after DAE.

Furthermore, the A level qualification, inherited by the British education system is widely gained in the private schools of Pakistan. Three to four subjects are selected, based on the interest of the student. It is usually divided into a combination of similar subjects within the same category, like Business, Arts and Sciences. This is a two-year program. A level institutions are different from high school. You must secure admission in such an institution, upon the completion of high school, i.e. the British system equivalent being O levels. O levels and A levels are usually not taught within the same school.

Tertiary education
The University of the Punjab, established 1882 in Lahore, is the oldest university of Pakistan.

According to UNESCO's 2009 Global Education Digest, 6% of Pakistanis (9% of men and 3.5% of women) were university graduates as of 2007.[16] Pakistan plans to increase this figure to 10% by 2015 and subsequently to 15% by 2020.[17] There is also a great deal of variety between age cohorts. Less than 6% of those in the age cohort 55-64 have a degree, compared to 8% in the 45-54 age cohort, 11% in the 35-44 age cohort and 16% in the age cohort 25-34.[16]

GIK Institute from the Clock Tower
Quaid-i-Azam University entrance

After earning their HSSC, students may study in a professional institute for Bachelor's degree courses such as engineering (BE/BS/BSc Engineering), medicine (MBBS), dentistry (BDS), veterinary medicine (DVM), law (LLB), architecture (BArch), pharmacy (Pharm.D) and nursing (BSc Nursing). These courses require four or five years of study. The accreditation councils which accredit the above professional degrees and register these professionals are: Pakistan Engineering Council (PEC), Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC), Pakistan Veterinary Medical Council (PVMC), Pakistan Bar Council (PBC), Pakistan Council for Architects and Town Planners (PCATP), Pharmacy Council of Pakistan (PCP) and Pakistan Nursing Council (PNC). Students can also attend a university for Bachelor of Arts (BA), Bachelor of Science (BSc), Bachelor of Commerce (BCom) or Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) degree courses.

There are two types of Bachelor courses in Pakistan: Pass or Honors. Pass degree requires two years of study and students normally read three optional subjects (such as Chemistry or [Education] Economics) in addition to almost equal number of compulsory subjects (such as English, islamiyat and Pakistan Studies). Honours degree requires four years of study, and students normally specialize in a chosen field of study, such as Biochemistry (BSc Hons. Biochemistry).

Pass Bachelors is now slowly being phased out for Honours throughout the country.

Quaternary education

Most of Master's degree programs require two years education. Master of Philosophy (MPhil) is available in most of the subjects and can be undertaken after doing Masters. Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) education is available in selected areas and is usually pursued after earning a MPhil degree. Students pursuing MPhil or PhD degrees must choose a specific field and a university that is doing research work in that field. MPhil and PhD education in Pakistan requires a minimum of two years of study.

Nonformal and informal education

Out of the formal system, the public sectors runs numerous schools and training centres, most being vocational-oriented. Among those institutions can be found vocational schools, technical training centres and agriculture and vocational training centres. An apprenticeship system is also framed by the state of Pakistan.[15] Informal education is also important in Pakistan and regroups mostly school-leavers and low-skilled individuals, who are trained under the supervision of a senior craftsman.[15] Few institutes are run by corporates to train university students eligible for jobs and provide experience during education fulfilling a gap between university and industry for example: Appxone Private Limited is training Engineers with professional development on major subjects of Electronics and Computer science and other fields.

Madrassas
Main article: Madrassas in Pakistan

Madrassas are Islamic seminaries. Most Madrasas teach mostly Islamic subjects such as Tafseer (Interpretation of the Quran), Hadith (sayings of Muhammad), Fiqh (Islamic Law), Arabic language and include some non-Islamic subjects, such as logic, philosophy, mathematics, to enable students to understand the religious ones. The number of madrassas are popular among Pakistan's poorest families in part because they feed and house their students. Estimates of the number of madrasas vary between 12,000 and 40,000. In some areas of Pakistan they outnumber the public schools.[18]

Gender disparity
See also: Women's education in Pakistan

In Pakistan, gender discrimination in education occurs among the poorest households but is non-existent among rich households.[19] Only 18% of Pakistani women have received 10 years or more of schooling.[19] Among other criticisms the Pakistani education system faces is the gender disparity in enrollment levels. However, in recent years some progress has been made in trying to fix this problem. In 1990-91, the female to male ratio (F/M ratio) of enrollment was 0.47 for primary level of education. It reached to 0.74 in 1999-2000, showing the F/M ratio has improved by 57.44% within the decade. For the middle level of education it was 0.42 in the start of decade and increased to 0.68 by the end of decade, so it has improved almost 62%. In both cases the gender disparity is decreased but relatively more rapidly at middle level.[20]

The gender disparity in enrollment at secondary level of education was 0.4 in 1990-91 and 0.67 in 1999-2000, showing that the disparity decreased by 67.5% in the decade. At the college level, it was 0.50 in 1990-91 and reached 0.81 in 1999-2000, showing that the disparity decreased by 64%. The gender disparity has decreased comparatively rapidly at secondary school.[20]

There is great difference in the rates of enrollment of boys, as compared to girls in Pakistan. According to UNESCO figures, primary school enrollment for girls stand at 60 per cent as compared to 84 percent for boys. The secondary school enrollment rate stands at a lower rate of 32 percent for females and 46 per cent males. Regular school attendance for female students is estimated at 41 per cent while that for male students is 50 per cent.[13]

A particularly interesting aspect of this gender disparity is representation of Pakistani women in STEMM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics and medicine). In 2013, the issue of women doctors in Pakistan was highlighted in local and international media.[21][22][23][24] According to Pakistan Medical and Dental Council, in many medical colleges in Pakistan, as many as 80% of students are women, but majority of these women do not go on to actually practice medicine, creating a shortage of doctors in rural areas and several specialties (especially surgical fields).[22][24] In 2014, Pakistan Medical and Dental Council introduced a gender-based admission policy, restricting women to 50% of available seats (based on the gender ratios in general population).[25][26] This quota was challenged and subsequently deemed unconstitutional (and discriminatory) by Lahore High Court.[27][28] Research indicates several problems faced by women doctors in Pakistan in their career and education, including lack of implementation of women-friendly policies (like maternity leave, breast-feeding provisions and child-care facilities), and systemic sexism prevalent in medical education and training.[29] Pakistan's patriarchal culture, where women's work outside the home is generally considered less important than her family and household obligations, also make it difficult for women to balance a demanding career.[29] Despite the importance of the issue, no new policies (except now-defunct-quota) have been proposed or implemented to ensure women's retention in workforce.

Qualitative dimension

In Pakistan, the quality of education has a declining trend. Shortage of teachers and poorly equipped laboratories have resulted in the out-dated curriculum that has little relevance to present-day needs. The education is based just on cramming and the students lack professional skills as well as communication skills when they are graduated from an institute. Moreover the universities here are too expensive, due to which the Pakistani students can't afford a university to get higher education. Moreover, the universities here don't provide skills that have a demand in market.[14]

Distance learning

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the nation launched an educational television channel, Teleschool.[30] Teleschool is programmed with lessons for kindergarten through high school. Each grade has one hour of course material broadcast per day.[30]

Teleschool instructional videos are in Urdu and English, Pakistan's official languages and the languages used for the country's national curriculum.[30]

The Ministry of Education is also trying to develop instructional programming for radio since Teleschool isn't available to the nation's poorest families.[30]

Achievements

Some of the famous alumni of Pakistan are as follow:

Government College University (Lahore)

Abdus Salam
University of Engineering and Technology, Lahore
Main article: Abdus Salam

Abdus Salam was a Pakistani theoretical physicist and Nobel laureate in physics for his work on the electroweak unification of the electromagnetic and weak forces. Salam, Sheldon Glashow and Steven Weinberg shared the 1979 Nobel prize for this work. Salam holds the distinction of being the first Pakistani to receive the Nobel Prize in any field. Salam heavily contributed to the rise of Pakistani physics to the Physics community in the world.[31][32]

Ayub Ommaya

Ayub Ommaya was a Pakistani neurosurgeon who heavily contributed to his field. Over 150 research papers have been attributed to him. He also invented the Ommaya Reservoir medical procedure. It is a system of delivery of medical drugs for treatment of patients with brain tumours.

Dr. Allah Bakhsh Malik

Honorable Dr. Allah Bakhsh Malik is a renowned academic, researcher, author with erudite experience as management, institutional development specialist. Dr. Malik primarily focused on education and human development sectors and served at the top positions with distinction for a long time. He served as Secretary Education, leading one of the largest education system around the globe during 2017 -2019. He successfully ensured access, equity and quality in education and 'The Economist' of Feb 2018 wrote on his contributions and achievements. His services were recognized by United Nations - UNESCO and Dr. Malik was conferred UNESCO Confucius Award in 2011. He is popularly known as Educator to the Poor in academic circles. He also served in the highest rank of Civil Service of Pakistan BPS-22 grade as the Federal Education and Health Secretary of Pakistan.[1] Dr. Malik belongs to the Pakistan Administrative Service and is considered to be a management, human development and institutional development specialist. He has also led the professional teams in development sector in inter-sectoral, multi-temporal and cross-disciplinary fields in Education, Health, Governance, Institutional Development, Planning, Development and Reforms at national and international level.

Dr. Malik was conferred United Nations's UNESCO Confucius Prize for Literacy with the title of The Honourable and a Degree in recognition of leadership role for the promotion of Literacy and Skill Development in the Punjab province on September 8, 2011. In 2011 he was decorated with the UNESCO Confucius Award and the title of Honorable for his leadership role in promoting education and skills development for the less-affluent and disenfranchised. Dr. Malik has this unique distinction, being the first Pakistani and Muslim who has been conferred the Confucius Award by UN-UNESCO. Dr. Malik represented Pakistan and Asia Pacific nations on the Board of Global Partnership for Education - GPE, The World Bank for three years. Dr. Malik has worked as Managing Director Punjab Education Foundation, Secretary to the Government/Chairman BISE at Government of Punjab, Pakistan.[2] As MD/CEO PEF Malik introduced Public Private Partnership - PPP in Education Sector in Pakistan (Foundation Assisted Schools - FAS) for the first time and now one of the largest programmes around the globe with 2.8 million children enrolled. His model of PPP has been accepted as the world's best replicate model by the lead journal Economist, for low cost schools for affordable quality education. He introduced programs like Foundation Assisted Schools - FAS, Education Voucher Scheme - EVS, Teaching in Clusters by Subject Specialists - TICSS and Continuous Professional Development Program - CPDP. By now more than three million children are benefiting from PEF initiatives pioneered by Malik. He is considered as the 'god-father' and Educator to the Poor for affordable quality education in public private partnership for the low income and less-affluent families. Lahore University of Management Sciences - LUMS published a book; The Candles in the Dark' and a chapter has been dedicated to the work of Dr. Malik as CEO PEF - a rare distinction. His contribution in Human Development has been recognized at national and international level.

Dr. Malik served as Director General & Programme Director Directorate of Staff Development - DSD restructured and renamed in 2017 as Quaid e Azam Academy for Educational Development - QAED, Programme Director Punjab Education Sector Reforms Programme - PESRP. Dr. Malik served as Secretary to the Government, School Education Department, Government of Punjab, one of the largest education system in the world. His performance was highlighted as exemplary education leader by The Economist in February 2018. He served as Federal/Additional Secretary to the Government of Pakistan, Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training, Director General, Academy of Educational Planning and Management (AEPAM) and Director General, National Commission of Human Development. Malik has been recognized as a passionate educator for the less-privileged at national and international level because of his passion and services for affordable quality education for the less-affluent and disenfranchised sections of society in Pakistan and around the globe. Malik is Charles Wallace Trust Fellow of SOAS University of London UK and was appointed as Ambassador of British Alumni Association Pakistan.

Dr. Malik is the former Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of the Punjab Education Foundation (PEF) (2004 to 2008). He revamped and restructured PEF as an autonomous organization established to forge public-private partnerships for the promotion of quality education for the less affluent and under-served marginalized sections of society at affordable cost. He developed and introduced for the first time in Pakistan, new instruments for affordable quality education through innovation. The Economist declared these instruments as the best designs and replicable model in the world. LUMS has published a landmark study on the best performing institutions in Pakistan, 'Candles in the Dark' and PEF is one of them with Dr. Malik as CEO of the organization. He served as Secretary Literacy and Basic Education Department with Skill Development Programmes and Secretary Youth Affairs (2009 to 2012) Government of Punjab Pakistan. He served as Federal/Additional Secretary to the Government of Pakistan for National Tariff Commission, Commerce and Textile Industry. Malik has several decades of experience in various aspects of the education sector and skill development: policy and situation analysis, assessment, policy formulation, strategic interventions, planning, implementation and monitoring and evaluation. He has vast experience in implementing social development projects focusing social and human development. Dr. Malik led one of the largest education system in the world as Secretary Education Punjab and introduced new instruments and maverick initiatives in collaboration with The World Bank, DFID, UNESCO and UNICEF. He restructured DSD into Quaid e Azam Academy for Educational Development - QAED, now one of the premier teacher training academy in the region.

Dr. Malik was elected Alternate Member of the Board of Global Partnership for Education - GPE for Asia Pacific Region. The Global Partnership for Education supports developing countries to ensure that every child receives a quality basic education, prioritizing the poorest, most vulnerable and those living in fragile and conflict-affected countries. He is also Member of the Steering Committee and Drafting Group of Framework For Action beyond 2015 by UNESCO Paris. He is the founding trustee of Pakistan Alliance for Girls Education (PAGE). Dr. Malik also served as lead international consultant with the UNESCO, IUCN, Asian Development Bank, The British Council and many other international organizations. He worked as Advisor the Governments of South Africa, Philippines and Qatar for promoting affordable quality education. Malik is a Chevening Scholar and Charles Wallace Trust Fellow at SOAS, University of London. His work has been extensively published. He was conferred Global Excellence Award of Management in 2013. He was the first Chairman of National Curriculum Council, Government of Pakistan. Malik in his early career served as Deputy Commissioner Chilas - Diamer, Gilgit, Muzzaffargarh and Pakpattan. Dr. Malik is Post-Doc Visiting Scholar (2006-2008) in Economics of Education in Public Private Partnership: Freedom of Choice, Affordable Quality Education in Public Private Partnership from Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, USA. He is PhD in Development Economics, Public Finance and Resource Mobilization, Punjab University Lahore Pakistan. He completed his MPhil degree in Economics and Politics of Development from Cambridge University –United Kingdom.

Malik formulated Punjab Youth Policy 2012, National TVET Policy 2015, Punjab Early Childhood Education and Development (ECED) and supervised the revision of National Education Policy 2009.

Mahbub-ul-Haq

Mahbub-ul-Haq was a Pakistani economist who along with Indian economist Amartya Sen developed the Human Development Index (HDI), the modern international standard for measuring and rating human development.

Atta-ur-Rahman

Atta-ur-Rahman is a Pakistani scientist known for his work in the field of natural product chemistry. He has over 1052 research papers, books and patents attributed to him. He was elected as Fellow of the Royal Society (London) in 2006 [33] and won the UNESCO Science Prize in 1999.[34]

Ismat Beg

Ismat Beg is a Pakistani mathematician famous for his work in fixed point theory, and multicriteria decision making methods. Ismat Beg is Higher Education Commission Distinguished National Professor and an honorary full Professor at the Mathematics Division of the Institute for Basic Research, Florida, USA. He has vast experience of teaching and research. He is a Fellow of Pakistan Academy of Sciences, and Institute of Mathematics and its Applications (U K).

Arfa Abdul Karim Randhawa

Arfa Abdul Karim Randhawa was a Pakistani student and computer prodigy who, in 2004 at the age of nine, became the youngest Microsoft Certified Professional (MCP). She had her name in Guinness Book of World Records.[35] She kept the title until 2008. Arfa represented Pakistan on various international forums including the TechEd Developers Conference. She also received the President's Award for Pride of Performance in 2005. A science park in Lahore, the Arfa Software Technology Park, was named after her.[36][37][38][39] She was invited by Bill Gates to visit Microsoft Headquarters in the United States.[40]

Dr. Naweed Syed

Dr. Naweed Syed is a Pakistani Canadian scientist. He is the first scientist to connect brain cells to a silicon chip.[41][42][43]

Nergis Mavalvala

Nergis Mavalvala is a Pakistani-American astrophysicist known for her role in the first observation of gravitational waves.[44] She was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship in 2010[45][46] and first Lahore technology reward from Information Technology University in 2017.[47][48] Mavalvala is best known for her work on the detection of gravitational waves in the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) project.[44][49][50]

Muhammad Irfan-Maqsood

Muhammad Irfan-Maqsood is a Pakistani researcher and entrepreneur well known in Pakistan, Iran and Turkey for his work in PakistanInfo, KarafarinShow, Genes&Cells and iMaQPress. He is known for his work in the field of Techno-entrepreneurship and Biotechnology.[51] [52][53][54][55][56] He holds PhD in Cell and Molecular Biology and holding two MSc (Biotechnology) and MA (Political Sciences-IR). He has been awarded 4 time Iranian national techno-entrepreneurship award Sheikh Bahai by Minister of Science and Research, Iran and Young Entrepreneur from the Deputy Minister for Youth Affairs.[57] [58] He also has been Joint Secretary of Pakistan Muslim League N Lahore on the instruction of Mian Nawaz Sharif.

Education expenditure as percentage of GDP

The expenditure on education is around 2% of Pakistan's GDP.[59] However, in 2009 the government approved the new national education policy, which stipulates that education expenditure will be increased to 7% of GDP,[60] an idea that was first suggested by the Punjab government.[61]

The author of an article, the history of education spending in Pakistan since 1972, argues that this policy target raises a fundamental question: What extraordinary things are going to happen that would enable Pakistan to achieve within six years what it has been unable to lay a hand on in the past six decades? The policy document is blank on this question and does not discuss the assumptions that form the basis of this target. Calculations of the author show that during the past 37 years, the highest public expenditure on education was 2.80 percent of GDP in 1987-88. Public expenditure on education as a percentage of GDP was actually reduced in 16 years and maintained in 5 years between 1972–73 and 2008-09. Thus, out of total 37 years since 1972, public expenditure on education as a percentage of GDP either decreased or remained stagnant for 21 years. The author argues if linear trend were maintained since 1972, Pakistan could have touched 4 percent of GDP well before 2015. However, it is unlikely to happen because the levels of spending have had remained significantly unpredictable and unsteady in the past. Given this disappointing trajectory, increasing public expenditure on education to 7 percent of GDP would be nothing less than a miracle but it is not going to be of godly nature. Instead, it is going to be the one of political nature because it has to be "invented" by those who are at the helm of affairs. The author suggests that little success can be made unless Pakistan adopts an "unconventional" approach to education. That is to say, education sector should be treated as a special sector by immunizing budgetary allocations for it from fiscal stresses and political and economic instabilities. Allocations for education should not be affected by squeezed fiscal space or surge in military expenditure or debts. At the same time, there is a need to debate others options about how Pakistan can "invent" the miracle of raising education expenditure to 7 percent of GDP by 2015.[62]

University rankings
Main article: Rankings of universities in Pakistan

According to the Quality Standard World University Ranking for 2014, QAU, IST, PIEAS, AKU, NUST, LUMS, CUI, KU and UET Lahore are ranked among top 300 universities in Asia.[63]

Religion and education

Education in Pakistan is heavily influenced by religion. For instance, one study of Pakistani science teachers showed that many rejected evolution based on religious grounds.[64] However, most of the Pakistani teachers who responded to the study (14 out of 18) either accepted or considered the possibility of the evolution of living organisms, although nearly all Pakistani science teachers rejected human evolution because they believed that ‘human beings did not evolve from monkeys.’ This is a major misconception and incorrect interpretation of the science of evolution, but according to the study it is a common one among many Pakistani teachers. Although many of the teachers rejected the evolution of humans, " all agreed that there is ‘no contradiction between science and Islam’ in general".[64]

According to the Pakistan’s National Council for Justice and Peace (NCJP) report 2001 on literacy of religious minorities in Pakistan–the average literacy rate among Christians in Punjab is 34 percent, Hindu (upper caste) is 34 percent, Hindu (scheduled castes) is 19 percent, others (including Parsis, Sikhs, Buddhists and nomads) is 17 percent compared to the national average of 46.56 percent.Whereas the Ahmadis have literacy rate slightly higher than the national average.[65]

Literacy rate
Literacy Rate in Pakistan 1951-2018
Literacy rate in Pakistan

The definition of literacy has been undergoing changes, with the result that the literacy figure has vacillated irregularly during the last censuses and surveys. A summary is as follows:[66]

Year of
census or
survey[66]		Total[66]Male[66]Female[66]Urban[67]Rural[67]Definition of
being "literate"[66]		Age
group[67]
1951 (West Pakistan)17.9%[68]21.4%[68]13.9%[68]N/AN/AOne who can read a clear
print in any language		All Ages
1961 (West Pakistan)16.9%[68]26.1%[68]6.7%[68]34.8%10.6%One who is able to read with
understanding a simple letter in any language		Age 5 and above
197221.7%30.2%11.6%41.5%14.3%One who is able to read and
write in some language with understanding		Age 10 and Above
198126.2%35.1%16.0%47.1%17.3%One who can read newspaper
and write a simple letter		Age 10 and Above
199843.92%54.81%32.02%63.08%33.64%One who can read a newspaper
and write a simple letter, in any language		Age 10 and Above
2018[1]62.3%72.5%51.8%76.6%53.3%“Ability to read and understand simple text in any language from a newspaper or magazine, write a simple letter and perform basic mathematical calculation (ie, counting and addition/subtraction).”[69] Age 10 and Above

Literacy rate by Province
Literacy rate by Pakistani Province 1951-2018
ProvinceLiteracy rate[66]
1972198119982018[1]
Punjab20.7%27.4%46.56%64.7%
Sindh30.2%31.5%45.29%62.2%
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa15.5%16.7%35.41%55.3%
Balochistan10.1%10.3%26.6%55.5%

The Economic Survey of Pakistan 2019 report says that literacy rate has increased in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa from 54.1% to 55.3%, in Punjab from 61.9% to 64.7% and in Balochistan from 54.3% to 55.5%.In Sindh, the literacy rate has decreased from 63.0% to 62.2%.[70]

Literacy rate of Federally Administered Areas
RegionLiteracy Rate
19811998Latest
Islamabad (ICT)47.8%[71][72]72.40%[71]85% (2015)[6]
Azad Jammu & Kashmir (AJK)25.7%[73]55%[74]74% (2017)[8]
Gilgit-Baltistan3% (female)[75]37.85%[75]N/A

Mean Years of Schooling in Pakistan by administrative unit
Unit[76] 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2012 2015 2018
Azad Jammu & Kashmir 3.78 4.59 5.42 7.47 7.22 7.15 6.92 6.51
Balochistan 1.77 2.15 2.53 3.49 3.25 3.14 3.17 3.10
FATA 1.42 1.73 2.04 2.81 2.71 2.69 2.60 2.45
Gilgit-Baltistan 2.01 2.44 2.88 3.97 3.84 3.80 4.59 5.17
Islamabad (ICT) 4.16 5.05 5.96 8.21 9.67 10.70 9.62 8.34
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 1.83 2.22 2.62 3.62 3.80 3.97 3.95 3.82
Punjab 1.96 2.38 2.81 3.88 4.44 4.85 5.23 5.41
Sindh 2.43 2.95 3.48 4.79 5.19 5.51 5.35 5.05
Pakistan 2.28 2.77 3.27 4.51 4.68 4.85 5.09 5.16

International education

As of January 2015, the International Schools Consultancy (ISC)[77] listed Pakistan as having 439 international schools.[78] ISC defines an 'international school' in the following terms "ISC includes an international school if the school delivers a curriculum to any combination of pre-school, primary or secondary students, wholly or partly in English outside an English-speaking country, or if a school in a country where English is one of the official languages, offers an English-medium curriculum other than the country's national curriculum and is international in its orientation."[78] This definition is used by publications including The Economist.[79]

gollark: I think I claimed one of those and rebranded it.
gollark: No, kotahu.
gollark: Picture please.
gollark: Oh, you have a bedrock sphere too?
gollark: > forge is nice about not allowing mods to modify the modlistI'm sure they could if they tried.

See also

References
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Further reading
  • Halai, Anjum (Aga Khan University Institute for Educational Development). "Gender and Mathematics Education: Lessons from Pakistan" (Archive).
  • K.K. Aziz. (2004) The Murder of History : A Critique of History Textbooks used in Pakistan. Vanguard. ISBN 969-402-126-X
  • Nayyar, A. H. & Salim, Ahmad. (2003) The Subtle Subversion: The State of Curricula and Text-books in Pakistan - Urdu, English, Social Studies and Civics. Sustainable Development Policy Institute. The Subtle Subversion
  • Pervez Hoodbhoy and A. H. Nayyar. Rewriting the history of Pakistan, in Islam, Politics and the state: The Pakistan Experience, Ed. Mohammad Asghar Khan, Zed Books, London, 1985.
  • Mubarak Ali. In the Shadow of history, Nigarshat, Lahore; History on Trial, Fiction House, Lahore, 1999; Tareekh Aur Nisabi Kutub, Fiction House, Lahore, 2003.
  • Rubina Saigol. Knowledge and Identity - Articulation of Gender in Educational Discourse in Pakistan, ASR, Lahore 1995
  • Tariq Rahman, Denizens of Alien Worlds: A Study of Education, Inequality and Polarization in Pakistan Karachi, Oxford University Press, 2004. Reprint. 2006
  • Tariq Rahman, Language, Ideology and Power: Language learning among the Muslims of Pakistan and North India Karachi, Oxford UP, 2002.
  • Tariq Rahman, Language and Politics in Pakistan Karachi: Oxford UP, 1996. Rept. several times. see 2006 edition.
  • World Bank Case Study on Primary Education in Pakistan
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