The Education Emergency in Pakistan
By Farhana Mohamed, MBA, PhD
California , USA
When poring over educational statistics of Pakistan, one finds potpourri of data: some alarming and some promising - peppered with contradictions. The most recent literacy data shows significant improvement of literacy rate from 45% (2001-02) to 58% (2010) (Source: Pakistan Millennium Development Report 2010).
The male literacy is about 70% (with a gain of 12 points) and the female literacy is 46% (a jump of 15 points). While the urban male/female literacy difference is about 14%, there is hardly any improvement for rural women where the male and female literacy disparity is still a staggering 30%. The literacy rate for rural males is 63% and only 33% for rural women.
Interestingly, while the overall literacy rate has improved, the gender-based educational disparity persists. Yet, the recently released “Education Emergency Pakistan Report - 2011” (EEPR) touts, “Education of women is one of the most important investments a society can make.” On the other hand, the World Bank Report (2008) on Girls’ Education states, “Educating girls delivers a higher return than any other investment in the developing world.”
Per the World Bank Press Release (March 24, 2011), over the last decade, Pakistan has made significant gains in primary education with a 14% improvement in primary school enrollment from 42% to 56%; however, the Pakistani children still lag behind their South Asian counterparts in primary school attendance.
In the World Bank’s World Indicators’ Report of 2010, about 10% (7.3 million) of world’s primary school children reside in Pakistan. These alarming statistics about the plight of education in Pakistan are further elaborated in the EEPR (published by the Pakistan Education Task Force, March 2011). The Task Force is co-chaired by Shahnaz Wazir Ali, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister, and Sir Michael Barber, Head of Mckinsey & Company’s Global Education.
Of course, the poor education statistics in Pakistan are strongly correlated to dwindling government expenditure on education. While required by various statutes to spend at least 4% of GDP, the budgeted amount for FY 11-12 is a meager 1.5% - a drop of 1% point since FY 2006-07 (per EEPR, the government spending on education is smaller than the amount of subsidy provided to PIA, PEPCO and Pakistan Steel). It is estimated that annually a minimum amount of Rs.80 to100 billion is needed to achieve the educational goals either constitutional (universal education to the age of 16) or under Pakistan Millennium Development Report (all eligible children complete primary education by 2015).
While EEPR recognizes contribution of foreign investment toward education, arguably, any notable difference can only be made through concerted government efforts. The Article 25-A of the Pakistan Constitution delineates responsibility of the state to provide free and compulsory education for all children between ages five to 16. Recently, after passage of the 18 th Amendment to the Constitution, the education portfolio has been moved to the provinces which may improve the situation as primary and secondary education can be best administered at provincial levels.
Paradoxically, impressive improvement occurred in higher education in Pakistan during the last decade. Since its inception in 2003 under the leadership of Dr. Atta-ur Rahman, the Higher Education Commission (HEC) has made successful reforms in the higher education sector. The mission of HEC is to “facilitate institutions of higher learning to serve as engine of socio-economic development of Pakistan.” Talented faculty was recruited in the Pakistani universities with lucrative contracts and hundreds of local and foreign PhD scholarships were awarded annually. About 95% of the students returned to serve their country due to incentives provided and strict accountability measures. Following the resignation of Dr. Atta-ur Rahman, Dr. Javaid Leghari is the current Chairman of HEC.
There was an alleged attempt to break up HEC back in March/April, 2011 under the 18 th Amendment. HEC, its supporters, and independent media strongly lobbied to let HEC function at the Federal level. HEC on its Facebook page cites the 4 th Schedule of the 18 th Amendment where higher education and research remain as federal subjects. HEC “through the Medium Term Development Framework (MTDF; 2011-15) is creating the knowledge capital and technology required to enable Pakistan to join the ranks of industrially advanced countries within the next decade.” After much hoopla, Raza Rabbani, Federal Minister of Inter-Provincial Coordination and Chairman of Implementation Commission on the 18 th Amendment, “denied” any dissolution of HEC in a statement issued on April 13 and stated that “misunderstanding led to confusion on the issue.”
While the HEC is getting well-deserved praise for promoting higher education in Pakistan (it has won several international awards and earned high praise during the “Going Global” Conference held in Hong Kong back in March, 2011), according to Fasi Zaka, spokesperson of Pakistan Education Task Force, “--- when it comes to law and governance issues, primary and secondary education is extremely important.” In Pakistan, there is a huge gap between primary/secondary and higher education. While the policy of “turbo-charging” science and technology at university level for less than 1% of population may uplift at least part of the economy, it should not be done at the expense of ignoring education at lower levels.
Achieving universal primary and secondary education should uplift the economy tremendously. Per EEPR, some of the advantages include fertility rate reduction by 10% (WDI, 2010), every one year of increase in the secondary education for the entire workforce will enhance Pakistan’s GDP by 13% (about $11.6 billion), and the ten-year research by Hanushek & Wasserman has shown a strong positive correlation between cognitive skills and economic growth. Due to less than 60% literacy rate in Pakistan, the economic dividends of improvement of cognitive skills are huge.
There is nothing more important to Pakistan in human development than to seriously and consistently invest in education as there is indeed an education emergency in Pakistan.
