- Student enrolment increased in primary, middle, secondary, higher secondary, degree colleges, technical institutions
According to the Population and Housing Census, 2023, Pakistan’s literacy rate stands at 60.65 percent. The male literacy rate is higher at 68.0 percent, as against to 52.84 percent for females. A significant contribution of the census was the inclusion of the literacy rate of transgender, which stands at 40.15 percent. The literacy rate in urban areas is substantially higher than the national average, registered at 74.09 percent, as against to 51.56 percent in rural areas. This highlights the continued challenge of the urban-rural divide in access to quality education. The divide is even more pronounced among females, compared to males and transgender. Punjab has the highest literacy rate among the provinces, followed by Sindh, KPK, and Balochistan.
Pre-Primary Education
According to the government officials, the pre-primary education is the essential component of Early Childhood Education (ECE). Prep classes are for children between 3 and 5 years of age. At the national level, a decline of 3.3 percent in pre-primary enrolment (11.77 million) in FY23 against (12.16 million) in FY22 had been registered. The estimated figure for pre-primary enrolment in FY24 was almost 11.6 million.
Primary Education (Classes I-V)
In FY23, 168.24 thousand functional primary schools with 506.02 thousand corresponding teachers were registered in Pakistan. Primary enrolment rose by 3.2 percent, as the total number of students enrolled grew to 24.61 million in FY23 as against to 23.85 million in FY22. However, it was estimated to increase by almost 24.83 million in FY24.
Middle Education (Classes VI-VIII)
Furthermore, in FY23, the total number of middle-level institutions reached at 51.03 thousand, with 511.2 thousand employed teachers in our country. Middle school enrolment grew by 7.6 percent. The total number of enrolled students stood 9.43 million in FY23, as against to 8.77 million in FY22, and it was projected to rise by 4.7 percent (from 9.43 million to 9.88 million) in FY24.
Secondary/High School Education (Classes IX-X)
In FY23, 39.4 thousand secondary schools were functional, with 733.4 thousand teachers registered nationwide. Secondary school enrolment grew by 5 percent nationally, to 4.72 million in FY 2023 against 4.49 million in FY22. However, it was estimated to rise further by 3.8 percent during FY24.
Higher Secondary/Inter Colleges (Classes XI-XII)
The government officials also recorded that during FY23, there were 9.0 thousand higher secondary schools/inter colleges with 196.7 thousand teachers functional at the national level. The overall enrolment of students in higher secondary education witnessed a rise of 8.8 percent in FY23. The enrollment registered during FY23 was 2.33 million as against to 2.15 million in FY22. For FY24, it was projected to reach 2.38 million.
Degree Colleges (Classes XIII-XIV)
An enrolment of 0.65 million students in degree colleges was expected during FY 2024, as against to 0.66 million in FY23. A total of 2573 degree colleges were found in FY23, with estimated 2516 degree colleges for FY24. The number of teachers in degree colleges was 60.13 thousand in FY23 and was projected to be 59.84 thousand in FY24.
Universities
There were 269 universities with the overall enrolment of students in higher education institutions was registered at 1.94 million in FY 2023, declined from the previous year by 13 percent. The enrolment was expected to rise by 0.8 percent from 1.94 million in FY23 to 1.95 million in FY24.
Technical And Vocational Education
During FY24, 4,563 technical and vocational institutes with 51.08 thousand teachers were functional nationally. The enrolment was registered at 0.45 million in FY23 as against to 0.44 million in FY22. However, it was estimated to rise by 1.1 percent in FY 2024.
Suggestions to promote education
- Technical education should be made a part of secondary education.
- The government must provide economic incentives to the students.
- Local government system is helpful in promoting education and literacy in Pakistan.
- An effective monitoring system is required in education departments.
- The provinces should form legislations and design educational strategies which ensure quality education.
There should be career counseling of the pupils in schools as well as the parents, so that they have an understanding of job market and they can develop their skills accordingly.