Education in Pakistan: Not good, but maybe good enough - Profit by Pakistan Today

https://profit.pakistantoday.com.pk/2024/08/05/education-in-pakista...


Not waiting for government favours

While part of this progress is certainly driven by improvements to the government’s own infrastructure, measured purely by proportion of the increase in student enrollment, the private sector has contributed just under 75% of the total growth in enrollment between 2009 and 2022, according to enrollment estimates published in the Pakistan Education Statistics reports published by the Pakistan Institute of Education. The public sector accounts for the remaining 25%.

In other words, Pakistanis are not waiting around for the government to fix the schools (even though the government is making some progress on that front). They are simply going ahead and paying for private schools themselves as soon as they have the ability to pay.

This phenomenon helps explain why the fastest progress in terms of increasing literacy happened in the decade after Pakistan’s dependency ratios – the ratio of prime working age adults to the number of children under the age of 15 and retirees over the age of 65 – peaked.

The dependency ratio peaked in 1995, and that year also represented the an inflection point in literacy improvements: for every year after that, the 10-year progress towards improving literacy kept on rising at a rising pace (the second differential was positive) for the next decade.


What does that mean? It means that once families started to find that they had a bit more spare cash to spend (with dependency ratios declining after 1995), they started investing that spare cash into private school fees for their children, especially in urban areas, and especially in the urban areas they did so at nearly identical rates for their sons and daughters.

Having spent the lead up to 1995 being increasingly cash strapped, the first thing that Pakistani families did when the pressure on their cash flows eased a bit was to invest in the future economic productivity of their households by educating their children. And in perhaps a scathing indictment of how bad the public schools were, they did so through private schools even when public schools were available in their areas.

Gallup Pakistan - Pakistan's Foremost Research Lab

https://gallup.com.pk/post/37337

Overall literacy rate improved by 1.8%, from 58.9% in 2017 to 60.7% in 2023; highest literacy rate recorded was among the 13-14 year olds living in urban areas (88.8%) – Literacy Rate – 7th Pakistan Population and Housing Census
Islamabad, September 5th, 2024

Gallup Pakistan, as part of its Big Data Analysis initiative, is looking at Literacy Rates for Pakistan. This data is part of a study conducted using the ‘7th Pakistan Population and Housing Census’.

The current edition looks at data from 7th Pakistan Population and Housing Census, which can be found HERE.

Today’s topic is “Literacy Rate in Pakistan” from tables 12 and 13a of the 7th Pakistan Population and Housing Census

Key Findings:

1.Literacy Rate for Pakistan: Overall literacy rate improved by 1.8%, from 58.9% in 2017 to 60.7% in 2023.

2.Literacy Rate by Province: From 2017 to 2023, the total literacy rate in Punjab, Sindh and ICT increased by 2.3%, 2.9% and 2.5% respectively, while it fell for KP by 2.9% and for Balochistan by 1.6%.

3.Literacy Rate by Region: Between 2017 to 2023, urban areas showed a modest increase of 0.9%, while rural areas saw a more substantial rise of 1.5% in their literacy rates.

4.Literary Rate by Age Group: Within age groups, the highest literacy rate recorded was among the 13-14 year olds living in urban areas (88.8%).

5.Gender and Regional Literacy Gaps narrow to 0.7% and 9.5% among Pakistan’s youngest age group (5-9 year olds).

AI Overview
15 million Pakistani families to get health card, contract ...
Pakistan's national health card, the Sehat Sahulat Program, aims for universal coverage, but its rollout in Sindh has been gradual, focusing on specific areas like Tharparkar initially, with current discussions and plans to expand it across the province, while Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif recently relaunched it for Islamabad, AJK, and GB, emphasizing future integration in Sindh under provincial commitment. Beneficiaries get free, cashless treatment at empaneled hospitals for various ailments, but coverage details, like outpatient care or medication, can vary, requiring checking official sources for current status in Sindh.
Key Points for Sindh:
Partial Coverage: The program has covered areas like Tharparkar in Sindh, but full provincial implementation is pending.
Expansion Plans: Discussions are ongoing with the Sindh Chief Minister to extend the national program across the entire province.
Federal Relaunch: The recent relaunch by the PM focused on Islamabad, AJK, and GB, with future plans for Sindh mentioned.
How it Works (General):
Check Eligibility: Use your CNIC (Computerized National Identity Card) on the official website or via SMS (e.g., send CNIC to 8500).
Find a Hospital: Locate an empaneled hospital through the program website or helpline.
Get Treatment: Present your CNIC at the hospital's Sehat Card counter for cashless treatment.
What's Covered (Generally):
Hospitalization, surgeries, maternity, cardiac issues.
Some facilities (like specific tests, meds, or transport stipends) may be included in certain packages (e.g., Sehat Card Plus).
For Official Updates on Sindh:
Check the official PM Health Program website for the latest information on Sindh's inclusion and specific schemes.