Pakistan District Education Rankings 2017 released by education non-governmental organisation Alif Ailaan on Thursday has ranked Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) number one from eight Pakistani territories regarding provision of quality education.
The second spot was bagged by Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT), followed by Punjab, Gilgit-Baltistan (GB), Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), Balochistan, Sindh and Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), in that order.
The education index mainly focused on retention from primary to middle and middle to high schools, learning among students and gender equality.
The report mentioned that improvements had been made in certain parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab regarding school infrastructure, but showed concern over the slow progress being made in Sindh, Balochistan and FATA. In addition, the report also revealed that the authorities concerned spent more money on school infrastructure by ignoring classroom environment.
According to the rankings, Faisalabad district performed well above other districts of Punjab. Moreover, Karachi West was ranked the best district in Sindh while Sujawal was ranked the worst performing district in the province.
According to the report, Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa topped in terms of middle school infrastructure. The top two districts for matriculation were Malakanad and Swabi, with the other eight spots going to Punjab.
A concerning fact revealed by the report showed that a lot of school-going children were found out-of-schools and is bad news for Pakistan which comprises of one of the largest youth populations in the world.
