Education of Disadvantaged Children in OIC:
The Key to Escape from Poverty
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over 30 federal and provincial organizations to improve the pro-poor targeting performance of
respective social sector programmes.479 (see Annex 5 for details on BISP)
Failing systems: Supply-side Policy Examples
Data for monitoring and evaluation: Through successive education plans, the focus on moving
to evidence-based education policy and performance-based management has led to a substantial
rise in the development and maintenance of educational statistics in Pakistan. These resulted in
the publications of National Education Census 2005; National Education Assessment System’s
(NEAS) results; Provincial assessment results; reports on the achievement of targets of Education
for All (EFA) and MDGs (Millennium Development Goals) and annual reports (eg. Pakistan
Education Statistics) on the state of basic education indicators by the Education Management
Information System (EMIS) at national and provincial levels. Finally, the Annual Status of
Education Report480 was created in 2008 and aims to provide reliable estimates of enrolment and
basic learning levels of children aged 3-16. Its household-based survey design enables all children
to be included – those who have never been to school or have dropped out, as well as those who
are in government schools, private schools, religious schools or anywhere else481.
Privatisation: As mentioned in earlier sections, in 2015-2016, while only 14%of primary schools
were private, their share of enrolment was much larger with 39% of all children enrolled at the
primary level in private schools. While more prevalent in urban centres, the trend of privatization
is also on the rise in rural areas, where low-cost private schools step in in areas where government
schools are not available or their quality is considered very low. The low national expenditure on
the education sector (averaging 2% of GDP only) has led an increase in the demand for private
education. In addition, a World Bank study482 showed that the private provision of education even
in poor rural communities is a relatively better option. Thus, in terms of policy, there are also
several initiatives by the government to encourage private participation to support public
education, most prominently through the work of Sindh Education Foundation (SEF) and Punjab
Education Foundation (PEF).
Increased supply of alternatives to formal public schools: Other government’s educational
policies entail the supply of alternative schools or strengthening the quality of non-traditional
schools. The various typologies of schools in Pakistan are typically divided along class lines: high
quality private schools for elites, low cost private and public schools for poor, and deeni madaris
(religious) schools for the poorest. While it may be an oversimplification, it has led to efforts by
the government to strengthen the madrassa schools and thereby support the education of the
poorest. Outside this classification, there is a sizeable sector of non-formal schools, which offer
alternatives to formal education or instruction that can allow students to re-join formal education
after dropping out.
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480
481
482 Andrabi et al (2008)