Experts call for increasing education budget to 4pc of GDP, hiring more teachers

The Pakistan Women’s Foundation for Peace (PWFP) held two seminars under the title ‘A Holistic Approach to Improve Pakistan’s Stagnant Education System’ on Saturday.

These seminars aimed to seek consensus on the solutions proposed by experts in the field of education to address the long-standing challenges that have plagued Pakistan’s education system since 1947.

Despite numerous ambitious plans and costly policies introduced by various governments, these problems persist, and the country now ranks among the lowest in international education indices, with a literacy rate of approximately 60 per cent — the lowest in the region. This stagnant performance has remained consistent for the past 15 years.

In response, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif declared an education emergency this May, establishing a task force to make recommendations for removing barriers to achieving literacy targets and ensuring education for underprivileged children.

The task force identified key issues this August, including infrastructure deficiencies, limited access to schooling, inclusion challenges, low learning outcomes, teacher shortages and governance problems.

The District Education Performance Index, covering 134 districts, was introduced to measure educational performance nationwide. While the Islamabad Capital Territory and districts from Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa ranked among the top 10, no district from Sindh or Balochistan made the list.

Startling disparities between and within provinces were highlighted, with more than half of Pakistan’s districts (76) falling into the low performance category.

This issue has persisted for decades, with the 2010 education emergency and the 2011 “education year” declaration revealing that Pakistan was far from meeting the Millennium Development Goal of universal education by 2015.

At that time, 23 per cent of children under 16 attended secondary school, and one-third of Pakistanis lived in educational poverty, having received less than two years of schooling.

Despite efforts, the system continues to suffer, as Unicef reports that over 70 per cent of 10-year-olds in Pakistan cannot read or understand basic text.

The seminars organised by the PWFP aimed to understand why Pakistan’s education system remains in crisis despite numerous policies and education emergencies since 1947. The first seminar featured eminent educationists and institutional leaders who offered insights into improving the quality of school teaching and teacher training.

The second seminar welcomed economists and education advocates who focused on building an inclusive education system and addressing challenges related to teacher training, curriculum reform and infrastructure improvement.

Participants across both seminars emphasised the importance of improving the public education sector, ensuring quality teaching and enhancing governance. They called for curriculum revisions, modern teaching aids, skills training, extracurricular activities and a thorough overhaul of assessment systems to improve learning outcomes.

The growing impact of poverty, child stunting and climate change on education, particularly in rural areas, was also highlighted. “Gender disparity in education could be addressed by improving school accessibility, transport and security for girls,” said PWFP Chairperson Nargis Rehman.

A remarkable consensus was reached on the need to control population growth and increase the education budget from 1.7 per cent to four per cent of the GDP, as recommended by Unesco. The absence of political will and entrenched corruption were identified as major barriers to improving the education system.

The seminars also focused on reforms in higher education. Experts in the field, including former university vice chancellors and economists, discussed admission policies, curriculum quality, faculty standards and graduate outcomes.

With approximately 202 universities in Pakistan, there remains a significant lack of access to higher education, particularly in rural areas. Gender inequality and a lack of financial resources further compound these challenges.

Moreover, the Higher Education Commission’s FY23 report highlighted concerns about whether the economy can absorb the 470,000 annual graduates, especially given Pakistan’s low ranking on the World Bank’s University-Industry Linkage Index.

The PWFP called for a multi-sectoral approach to improve education in Pakistan. This requires collaboration among government bodies, policymakers, educators, economists, teachers, parents, civil society, and health and environmental practitioners.

Nargis said that a realistic, sustainable education policy must be developed to ensure effective implementation. Public-private partnerships, which have succeeded in Karachi’s adopted schools, should be encouraged.

Above all, collective ownership of Pakistan’s education system is crucial. As Quaid-e-Azam stated at the 1947 All Pakistan Education Conference: “Education is a matter of life and death to our nation. If we do not educate ourselves, we will be left behind and cease to exist.”

Nargis concluded that Pakistan’s education system could be revitalised, but it must be made a national priority, with genuine commitment from those in positions of power, and the collective ownership of all citizens.