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Photo Source: Pakistan Economic Survey Report 2023-2024
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CWA # 1386, 18 July 2024
Pakistan Reader
PR Review I Pakistan Economic Survey 2024 (Part-V)| Education in Pakistan: Four Takeaways

  Vetriselvi Baskaran

On 11 June, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb unveiled the Pakistan Economic Survey report for the fiscal year 2023-24. Pakistan economic survey is an annual report published by the Ministry of Finance that provides an in-depth analysis of “macro-economic trends, sectoral accomplishments, development policies and strategies.” The report contains 17 chapters focussing from Growth and Investment to Climate Change. Education, one of the chapters in the report provides a detailed analysis of the sector’s growth. The report delineates various measures undertaken by the government to elevate the standard of education, in line “with their commitment to achieve Goal 4 of the SDGs.” Following are the four takeaways from the report:
 
1. Decrease in overall enrolment despite government efforts 
The federal and provincial governments undertook various initiatives to upgrade education standards, aligning with their commitment to achieve Goal 4 of SDGs. To enhance equitable access to Education, the country increased the number of universities and facilitated the expansion of sub-campuses and teachers’ availability both in the public and private sectors. The Higher Education Commission (HEC) has also increased the higher education’s access to 10 per cent so far. However, the report based on Pakistan Social and Living Standards (PSLM) shows a decreasing trend in enrolment.  The overall enrolment of students in higher secondary education witnessed a decrease of 8.7 per cent in 2021-22.  The overall enrolment also declined by 13 per cent for the year 2021-22. In addition, the pre-primary enrolment decreased to 0.6 per cent, and the primary level enrolment decreased to 2.1 per cent at the national level.

2. Overall improvement in literacy rates
The Economic Survey report used the Labor Force Survey 2020-2021 to highlight the trends in the literacy rates of Pakistan since the PSLM Survey was not conducted. The report revealed an increasing trend overall, including the provinces. The overall literacy rate (10 years and older) was 62.8 percent in 2020- 21 as compared to 62.4 percent in 2018-19 which demonstrates a slight increase. The literacy rate has gradually gone up in all provinces with Punjab at 66.3 per cent, Sindh at 66.3 per cent, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa at 55.4 per cent and Balochistan at 53.9 per cent. Likewise, in rural and urban areas also literacy rate has increased. For the rural areas literacy rate increased from 53.7 per cent to 54 per cent and in urban areas, it has gone up to 77.3 per cent from 76 per cent.

3. Higher disparities for females than males in youth literacy rate
According to the Pakistan Social and Living Standards Measurement Survey (PSLM) 2019-20, the overall youth literacy rate (15 to 14 years) for the period 2019-2020 stood at 72 per cent. The male literacy rate was recorded at 79 per cent and the female literacy rate was 65 per cent. A province wise comparative analysis has also revealed higher disparities in literacy rate for females as compared to males. According to PSLM’s survey report, during 2019-20, the adult literacy rate stood at 57 per cent with the male adult literacy rate at 68 per cent and the female rate at 46 per cent only. This data indicates that men have fared better than women. Apart from this, the country’s Out of School Children (OOSC) was 32 per cent, with a higher rate of female students out of school than males in all the provinces and the overall data. Such analysis recorded that the expenditure on education-related activities during FY2023 increased to 13.6 per cent.  
Similarly, Gross Enrolment Rate (GER) and Net Enrolment Rate (NER) shows favorable figures for males in all the provinces and at all three levels. The Gross Enrolment Rate stands at primary – 84 per cent, middle-63 per cent, and matric- 57 per cent. Punjab tops the record and Balochistan has the lowest. Likewise, the Net Enrolment Rate (NER) stands at primary (64 per cent), middle (37 per cent), and matric (27 per cent). In this, NER favored males at the primary level in all the provinces, the middle, and the matric level except in Punjab.

4. Despite an overall improvement in Literacy rates, variations across provinces persist
The report revealed that even though literacy rates have increased in all provinces, they vary considerably across regions. Further, the expenditure on education also varies. For instance, in Punjab, the provincial government allocated PKR 61.4 billion for the education sector. This focused attention and resources contributed to improving the literacy rate in the region. Punjab tops amongst provinces when it comes to the literacy rate. On the contrary, other provinces like Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa spent less on education and thus yielded results accordingly. Of all the provinces, the Balochistan government spent the least in FY2024 and stands at the bottom of the literacy rate list. This suggests that the education sector’s performance is uneven, and some provinces may require more focused attention and resources to bring them to par with the better-performing ones. 

Education
What did the Economic Survey say in the 2022 and 2023 reports?

Based on the Economic survey report of 2022-23, the major trends were almost similar when compared to the 2023-24 report. There has been a gradual improvement in literacy rates. This suggests a positive trend, though the pace of improvement appears to be relatively slow. The data further indicates that while literacy rates have improved for both males and females, a significant gender gap remains. The male literacy rate is considerably higher than the female literacy rate, highlighting the need for targeted interventions to promote girls’ education and reduce this disparity. The increase in the number of technical and vocational institutes, as well as the rise in enrolment in these institutions, suggests an emphasis on skills development and vocational training. The report’s mention of the education expenditure being around 1.7 per cent of GDP suggests that the government’s investment in the education sector may still be inadequate. However, the 2023 report highlighted the decrease in expenditure when compared to the previous year. 

Similarly, Pakistan’s economic survey report for 2021-22 also mentioned the same major trends such as a gradual increase in literacy rates, expanding enrolment, persisting gender disparity, growth in technical and vocational education, and economic challenges. 

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