–Education report says 26 per cent government primary schools across the country run by single teacher
–22.84m children, 49 per cent girls not admitted in schools
ISLAMABAD: At least 22.84 million children are still out-of-school (OOSC) in which Balochistan is home to the highest proportion with 70% followed by 57% in FATA, the federal government said in its report, calling for war-footing steps to fix the problems.
These bitter facts were revealed in the Pakistan Education Statistic 2016-17 launched by the National Education Management Information System (NEMIS) – a subsidiary of the Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training, here on Thursday.
The statistics further reveal that 26 per cent of public primary schools across the country are being run by a single teacher, while 18 per cent have only one room.
MORE GIRLS OUT-OF-SCHOOL:
The report painted a gloomy picture, confirming that out of the total 51.53 million children between the ages of five to 16, 28.69 million are in school, whereas 44 per cent children or 22.84 million between are still out-of-school.
The report revealed that more girls are out-of-school than boys with 49 per cent girls as compared to 40 perc ent boys.
“As many as 70pc children in Balochistan, 58pc in Fata, 52 in Sindh, 47% in GB and AJK, 40% in Punjab, 34 % in KP, while 12 per cent in ICT are out-of-school,” the report says.
Moreover, the report stated that 5.21 million children have been enrolled from 2012-13 to 2016-17 in classes 1-12, besides decrease of 3.11 million out-of-school children in spite of an increase of 1.22 million population during the last five years.
ENROLMENT AND TRANSITION:
The report revealed that Grass Enrolment Rate (GER) in pre-primary education increased from 74% to 84% from 2015-16 to 2016-17 along with one per cent increase (from 63% to 64%) in public sector for classes 1-12 during the last one year.
The report further revealed that Effective Transition Rate (ETR) from middle to secondary has slightly decreased from 92% to 91% from 2015-16 to 2016-17.
Speaking on the launching ceremony as chief guest, Minister for Federal Education and Professional Training Muhammad Yusuf Shaikh said that the government was committed to building up a highly accessible and equitable education system in the country.
He said that education is an important pillar for a competitive economy. He said, “While a competitive economy needs many more elements such as a whole set of microeconomic, macro-economic and structural policies to drive competitiveness, innovation and productivity, education is a key component.”
He said that the government and, in particular, Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training is committed to providing compulsory education to every child. Strong steps are also being taken to provide quality education to all students, he said.
“In order to achieve these goals, we need an up to date, and a comprehensive mechanism of compiling and consolidating educational statistics.”
“The Pakistan Education Statistics 2016-17 is providing such an avenue for educational planners, decision-makers and researchers. The time series data provided in the report would play a vital role in determining the progress in education sector within the country over the period of time,” the federal minister added.
He said that this was a very authentic report and researchers can also benefit from it.
The Federal Minister appreciated AEPAM and NEMIS for preparing this report. Earlier, AEPAM Director General Dr Dawood Shah presented salient features of Pakistan Education Statistics 2016-17.