Achieving universal primary education in Pakistan

Pakistan has a net primary enrolment rate of only 66 percent and has 5.7 million children of primary school age out of school. Without significant progress in girls’ education, Pakistan is unlikely to meet the education Millennium Development Goals by 2015. The Pakistani government now acknowledges that the public sector cannot succeed by itself.

A handbook for education policymakers andpractitioners, from the Commonwealth Secretariat and Pakistan’s Society for theAdvancement of Education, identifies promising practices of working towardsachieving universal primary education (UPE) in Pakistan.

In Pakistan’s federal structure, mosteducation responsibility lies with the four provinces, with the curriculumremaining a federal responsibility. The Education Sector Reforms (ESR) ActionPlan for 2001 to 2004 is central to the government’s determination to deliverUPE by 2015. The ESR is shaped by links between poverty and literacy. It has astrong gender focus, with strategies for including girls and women at alleducational levels.

There is much to be done, however. Pakistanremains one of the few Commonwealth countries in which male teachers outnumberfemales. The ratio is 3 to 2at both primary and secondary school level. The country has the lowest genderparity index (0.72) for youth literacy of all Commonwealth countries. In ruralareas, girls generally enter primary education later than boys and on reachingpuberty are often withdrawn because there are no female teachers.

Pakistan has set out clear gender paritygoals:

• All primary schools are tobecome co-educational (with boys and girls).
• There is a plan to ensure that70 percent of teachers are women.
• In areas where femaleteachers are particularly scarce, age and qualification requirements for themhave been relaxed.
• Gender stereotyping intextbooks and the curriculum is being reviewed.
• Civil society is workingwith the government to provide community support for girls’ education in remoteand traditionally conservative areas.

The government now recognisesthat while private schools usually pay lower salaries, their teaching standardsare higher and teacher to pupil ratios are lower. The government is changingfrom being a provider to a facilitator and financer of education, and embracinga philosophy of public-private interaction.

There is greater dialogue with the privatesector, donors and local and international non-governmental organisations(NGOs). A new scheme is encouraging NGOs and communities to set up and manageschools. Schools are required to set aside a portion of their state subsidy andtaxes in order to promote sustainability. Elsewhere, poorly-performing schoolshave been turned round due to cooperation with private organisations.

Other aspects to encourage reform include:

• a switch from isolatedinterventions (such as teacher training) to a focus on whole school improvement– looking at all aspects of high quality teaching, materials, curriculum,infrastructure, leadership and community participation
• action to eliminate theworst forms of child labour through education
• a partnership with the AgaKhan University to make education more relevant, efficient and innovative
• building on Pakistan’s Islamic tradition of contributions to education; Pakistaniexpatriates now have greater scope to contribute to the development of theircountry of origin.