In a recent report released on Friday, the Planning Commission has unveiled the District Education Performance Index (DEPIx) for 2020-23, and the findings are alarming. The latest report highlights an urgent education crisis, revealing that Pakistan’s education system is in the ‘low’ performance bracket. The report has declared that there is an urgent education crisis in Pakistan and is even more severe than the ongoing economic crisis, with people entering the job market without receiving a proper education. Out of the 134 districts evaluated, the results were alarming across the board, with the exception of Islamabad.
The indicators on the basis of which the education system in Pakistan was evaluated ranges from learning outcomes and public financing. Both Sindh and Balochistan depicted lowest literacy rates among all the provinces. Interestingly, in education system’s governance and management, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) is far ahead than Punjab. However, in terms of education infrastructure, Punjab outperformed KP.
The five indicators on which the DEPIx is being structured involves:
- Learning outcomes
- Inclusion (Equity and Technology)
- Infrastructure and Access
- Governance and Management
- Public Financing
It should be noted that 133 districts out of 134 fell in the category of ‘medium to low’ depicting the severe need of education overhaul. According to Rafiullah Kakar, Member Social Sector of the Planning Commission, “The learning domain index also paints a very sorry state of affairs as the whole map is red. The share of the education budget in the provincial development budgets is also highly inadequate. Up to 90% of the current budget for the education sector goes to paying salaries.”
The urgent education crisis facing Pakistan demands immediate action, with the Planning Commission’s report showing widespread issues across the country.
Article 25-A of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan grants the right of free access to education yet 80% of the children remains out of school having little to no access to education. The report highlighted the lack of human capital development which is the paramount cause of urgent education crisis in Pakistan.
It is pertinent to mention here that over 76 districts in Pakistan are categorized as “low” in terms of education performance. This includes 33 districts in Balochistan and 22 in Sindh, highlighting the urgent education crisis in these regions. Additionally, if we talk about KP, there is a significant amount of intra-provincial disparity. According to the report, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), districts like Haripur, Chitral, and Abbottabad are among the top performers in education, while others, such as Kolai Palas, Upper Kohistan, and Lower Kohistan, lag far behind.
However, Punjab and Balochistan shows little to no intra-provincial disparities in their districts. Talking about Sindh, only Karachi and Hyderabad are top performers, rest all districts fall into the low performance categories.
The report has also highlighted the top ten districts throughout the country which are performing better than the rest. It has been observed that apart from Islamabad, seven districts are from Punjab and two from KP falls in the top ten category. However, no district from Sindh or Balochistan has been into that.
Thus, in light of the urgent education crisis exposed by the Planning Commission, significant reforms are needed to improve Pakistan’s education system.
