Pakistan has the second highest concentration
of out of school children in the world after Nigeria, Kashif Abbasi, Dawn, December 18th, 2015
ISLAMABAD: Despite increasing the education budget and making
several national and international commitments, the federal and provincial
governments have still failed to bring about major breakthroughs in bringing
out-of-school children to school.
Pakistan has the second
highest concentration of out-of-school children in the world after Nigeria. The
country has failed to deliver even an exact figure of out-of-school children,
and there are conflicting figures ranging between six and 25 million.
According to the Annual Status of Education Report-ASER 2015
national survey, 20 per cent of children between six and 16 are out-of-school
across the country. The survey also showed that the remaining 80 per cent of
(enrolled) children in the same age bracket are not learning much.
It stated that just over half the children enrolled in fifth
grade can read stories in Urdu, Sindhi or Pashto, 51 per cent cannot read
sentences in English, and 50 per cent cannot do two digit division.
The report, which was
launched on Thursday, stated that the proportion of out-of-school children has
decreased slightly as compared to 2014. This year, 20 per cent of children were
reported to be out-of-school, which is a decrease from 21 per cent in 2014.
In addition, 14 per cent
of children between six and 10 have never been enrolled in school and six per
cent have dropped out.
At the launch State
Minister for Education Balighur Rehman said the report is encouraging improvement
in the education sector. “Until we [are introspective] we cannot progress,” he
said. He added that significant improvement had been made in the sector, and
efforts for further improvement were ongoing. He said that 6.1 million children
were out-of-school, which he said was a matter of concern.
National Party president
Mir Hasil Bizenjo said that poor children who could not afford school
educations had instead turned to religious seminaries, and emphasised the need
for an increase in the education budget.
The survey revealed that
16 per cent of surveyed public sector primary schools do not have drinking
water facilities, while 48 per cent do not have toilet facilities. In addition,
37 per cent of primary schools are reportedly functioning without boundary
walls.
ASER’s findings also
revealed an interesting trend this year – the 2015 results have shown a
considerable number of students enrolling in public schools as compared to
non-state schools. According to the survey, 76 per cent of children (between
six and 16) were enrolled in public schools, an increase from 70 per cent in
2014.
The report said that
children enrolled in private schools were outperforming students from
government schools. Moreover, 67 per cent of fifth graders from private schools
were able to read a story in Urdu, Sindhi or Pashto, compared to 52 per cent
from government schools.
The difference in
learning levels is starker for English, where 65 per cent of fifth graders from
private schools could read English sentences compared to 45 per cent from
public sector schools. For arithmetic, 61 per cent of private school students
from the fifth grade could do two digit division compared to 47 per cent of
students enrolled in government schools.
The survey was conducted
by 10,000 volunteers, managed by Idara-e-Taleem-o-Aagahi (ITA) and other civil
society and semi-autonomous organisations, including the National Commission
for Human Development (NCHD), Sindh Education Foundation (SEF), Democratic
Commission for Human Development (DCHD) and other organizations across
Pakistan.
Its findings are based
on information about 258,021 children between three and 16 years of age. The
information came from volunteers who personally visited 83,755 homes in 4,217
villages from 146 rural districts and 21 urban areas across the country.
Published in Dawn, December 18th, 2015
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