78pc of all children in rural areas are enrolled in schools: report

Around 78 per cent of children between the ages of five and 16 were enrolled in schools in rural areas of Pakistan during 2014, showing the same percentage as last year.

According to the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) for the year 2014, there was a constant gender gap among out-of-school children with more girls than boys who were either not enrolled, or dropped out of school.

In 2014 and 2013, among the 22 per cent of out-of-school children, 10 per cent were male and 12 per cent were female.

The ASER is the largest household based learning survey mostly in all rural and selected urban areas. It is conducted each year across the country, which measures learning levels of children 5-16 years – the same age group identified for compulsory education in Article 25-A of Constitution.

The ASER further revealed that in 2014, 21 per cent of children (age 6-16) were reported to be out-of-school and 15 per cent children have never been enrolled in a school and 6 per cent have dropped out of school for various reasons.

Furthermore, 79 per cent of all school-aged children within an age bracket of 6-16 years were enrolled in schools. Amongst these, 70 per cent of children were enrolled in government schools whereas 30 per cent of children were going to non-state institutions (27 per cent private schools, 2 per cent Madrassa, 1 per cent others).

Significant shift was witnessed in terms of enrolment from government to private schools. In 2014, 70 per cent of enrolled children were seen to be going to government schools while 30 per cent were going to private schools. Similar trend was witnessed in rest of provinces where private sector was observed to be growing.

With regards to pre-school enrolment (three to five years), it was 39 per cent in 2014 as compared to 41 per cent in 2013. Around 61 per cent children of age three and five were not enrolled in any early childhood programme/schooling.

The highest enrolment in this age group was 76 per cent in Islamabad and the lowest in Balochistan with 28 per cent. In urban areas, it was 58 per cent.

During the period, private tuition incidence and uptake seemed more prevalent among private than government school students like that seen in previous years. Around 25 per cent of all private school -going children were found taking paid tuition compared to only 6 per cent of all government school children.

The survey also found that only 24 per cent of mothers in sampled households had completed at least primary schooling against48 per cent of fathers.

With regard to school facilities in rural parts, the ASER showed that during the period 3,968 government and 1,532 private schools in 144 rural districts of Pakistan were surveyed.

Overall teacher attendance in government schools was 88 per cent and 93 per cent in private school. Overall student attendance in government schools stood at 85 per cent whereas it was 90 per cent in private schools.