Pakistan's education system faces an unfathomable crisis with over 26 million children out of schools. While the country has an asset in the form of its youth bulge, lack of political will to scale up investment in education and equip the children of today with the skills and education for the future is a development challenge and existential threat in the making. The education emergency though announced remains woefully unaddressed. Education Emergency is neither novel to Pakistan nor is the inaction or lack of political will to address the crisis.
The third episode of our podcast Let’s Talk Education with Dr Faisal Bari, Dean, School of Education, LUMS, explores the gravity of the education emergency, the lack of tangible action reveals a deeper issue—an entrenched pattern of inaction and misplaced priorities that have brought unto Pakistan this alarming scenario.
"While the sheer number of out-of-school children is staggering, an equally concerning issue is the declining quality of education for those who are enrolled" highlighted Areeba Shahid.
The declining quality of public education is evident in assessment of learning outcomes and examination results. This essentially means that the public education system remains inadequately equipped to provide quality education to a significant number of children enrolled in schools. More than 70% of ten-year-old children in Pakistan are unable to read and understand a simple sentence.
"The waste of resources, potential and time of children is a serious criminal neglect," said Areebah Shahid.
"This leads to the question if meaningful progress is ever possible for a county where its children are deprived of the education and skills needed to succeed", she asked.
Pakistan's literacy rate hovers around 60% and is clear evidence of the decades of neglect in the public education sector. Even this figure has been achieved by simplifying the standards defining literacy. Education has been recognized as a fundamental right since the inception of Pakistan, yet the consistent lack of financial resources has always been attributed to the main barriers in ensuring access to education. While education has been constitutionally enshrined in Article 25-A, it still fails to be treated as a political priority.
Pakistan's education system faces an unfathomable crisis with over 26 million children out of schools. While the country has an asset in the form of its youth bulge, lack of political will to scale up investment in education and equip the children of today with the skills and education for the future is a development challenge and existential threat in the making. The education emergency though announced remains woefully unaddressed. Education Emergency is neither novel to Pakistan nor is the inaction or lack of political will to address the crisis.
The third episode of our podcast Let’s Talk Education with Dr Faisal Bari, Dean, School of Education, LUMS, explores the gravity of the education emergency, the lack of tangible action reveals a deeper issue—an entrenched pattern of inaction and misplaced priorities that have brought unto Pakistan this alarming scenario.
"While the sheer number of out-of-school children is staggering, an equally concerning issue is the declining quality of education for those who are enrolled" highlighted Areeba Shahid.
The declining quality of public education is evident in assessment of learning outcomes and examination results. This essentially means that the public education system remains inadequately equipped to provide quality education to a significant number of children enrolled in schools. More than 70% of ten-year-old children in Pakistan are unable to read and understand a simple sentence.
"The waste of resources, potential and time of children is a serious criminal neglect," said Areebah Shahid.
"This leads to the question if meaningful progress is ever possible for a county where its children are deprived of the education and skills needed to succeed", she asked.
Pakistan's literacy rate hovers around 60% and is clear evidence of the decades of neglect in the public education sector. Even this figure has been achieved by simplifying the standards defining literacy. Education has been recognized as a fundamental right since the inception of Pakistan, yet the consistent lack of financial resources has always been attributed to the main barriers in ensuring access to education. While education has been constitutionally enshrined in Article 25-A, it still fails to be treated as a political priority.
"We have reached a decisive and pivotal moment in history in terms of education, 26 million is almost the size of Canada’s population. That is the number of children who are being denied the right to education." commented Dr Bari.
The notion that the financial resources need to be made sure of before education can be prioritized is a political misconception. Although it is true that public investment in education must be increased, a country must mobilize its resources to education irrespective of its economic condition and political preferences. Quality education is the foundation on which strong structure of sustainable development of a country can be developed.
Although the tumultuous economic conditions of Pakistan are reasons believed to hinder political prioritization of education, many countries have achieved improvement in literacy rates and competitive education systems by investing in education while they were still developing economies.
"It is not about money rather the absence of political will" stressed Dr Bari.
Although financial resources remain a key factor, it is clear that without a political commitment to prioritize education and robust implementation, no amount of funding can resolve Pakistan's systemic issues. Countries like USA and Japan have placed educational reforms at the heart of their development strategies. Today China is reaping the economic dividends of its decades of investment in public education system. These nations have reached their current economic status by understanding that education is not merely a public service but the powerful tool needed to unlock solutions to their most critical challenges; be economic competitiveness, social cohesion, or technological innovation. The decision to prioritize investment in education and carry out reforms was the pivotal moment towards progress and sustainable development, paving their status in the global community. In Pakistan, the situation has remained on the contrary. Successive governments have always viewed short-term solutions as the beacon of light in dark times. They however, have proven to be extremely vulnerable to exogenous shocks and only ever brought temporary relief to the development challenges of the country. Education is key to innovative and skilled workforce which is necessary for sustainable growth.
Pakistan has an annual population growth rate of 2.5% means an additional 6 million annual children whose education and healthcare needs to be ensured. The staggering statistics with 40% of the child population stunted, Pakistan stands at a critical point in history. While the Prime Minister has announced a nation-wide education emergency, there has been no concrete action plan or roadmap presented by any of government to bring back the 26million children to schools, and make up for the lost time through formal, informal education and skills training.
A key element in education emergency remains access for marginalized segments and lower economic households. The societal and cultural biases hindering girl's education have significantly reduced and parents are favoring girl's education. However, rampant poverty and mounting inflationary pressures on families tend to tie their hands. This is a leading reason why more than 13 million girls remain out of schools; a figure which is significantly higher than boys. Pakistan also ranks 145th among 146 countries in "Global Gender Gap Report 2024" and while majority of the world has improved gender parity in education, despite numerous initiatives, significant ender gaps in education and literacy persist in Pakistan. The need to expand and increase the efficiency of BISP Waseela-e-Taleem Conditional Cash Transfer is urgent as 60% of eligible households still do not benefit from these programs. A combination of technical barriers and lack of awareness has limited the effectiveness of such initiatives, which are crucial for ensuring that the next generation is equipped with the skills necessary to thrive. Additionally, many low-income households rely on the children's incomes to make ends meet. This is an undeniable reality of our society and expanding conditional loans for sending such children to schools are inevitable need. Moreover, these children especially girls, must be empowered with not only formal education but also with technical and vocational skills so they can gain market competitive skills for better employment. This is an essential measure to eradicate the long-standing structural socio-economic and gender-based barriers in the country, hindering its sustainable development. The need for technical and vocational skills education is essentially focused on in all the provincial education plans, however, the gaps in implementation persist.
"Legislators and policy makers have thorough understanding of these ground realities and challenges in equitable access to education, yet they have their own justifications and excuses for the education emergency. Legislators are treating education as a luxury rather than a fundamental right. This is a situation which needs to be redirected", added Areebah Shahid.
Dr Faisal Bari highlighted that the only consistent feature in this situation is the lack of political will to address these glaring issues. If the education emergency is to be treated with the seriousness it deserves, solutions must be developed and scaled up urgently. There are existing successful models of large-scale social security programs focusing on health and education, both globally and within Pakistan. Scaling these up could be key to ensuring that Pakistan’s future workforce is skilled and healthy, ready to compete on the global stage.
A fundamental shift in thinking and policy planning is the need of the hour. Pakistan cannot continue to rely on short-term solutions or policies vulnerable to exogenous shocks. Education must be prioritized before economic progress, as it is key to sustainable growth. As history shows, countries that invested in education early on saw the greatest long-term benefits. Education lays the groundwork for an innovative and skilled workforce, which is essential for Pakistan’s development.
The education emergency makes a compelling a compelling case for the implementation of Article 25-A in earnest. This article mandates compulsory education, meaning that both the state and parents have a shared responsibility to ensure that children are educated. Addressing the structural challenges and social biases can help us unlock the true economic and development potential and the state must create a conducive environment for each citizen to contribute starting with ensuring the equitable right to education.
"If Pakistan is to secure its future, the education emergency must be treated with the urgency it deserves." Urged Dr Bari
The education emergency is an opportunity in disguise. It is time for policymakers to move beyond justifications and take decisive action to give Pakistan’s youth the future they deserve.
Authored by: Laraib Kiani – Coordinator Program Development, Communication & Advocacy
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