ISLAMABAD, July 12: Pakistan is at the lowest rung among 14 countries of Asia and Pacific region in terms of commitment to basic education, according to a report launched by Pakistan Coalition for Education, an NGO, here on Tuesday. Titled “Must Do Better”, the report has been prepared jointly by the Asian South Pacific Bureau of Adult Education, a network of 200 organizations and individuals involved in formal and non-formal adult education, and the Global Campaign for Education, a coalition of development organizations in over 100 countries.

“Pakistan ranked last out of 14 countries in Asia-Pacific in an investigation into developing countries’ commitment to basic education,” said the report which also evaluated the performance of each country’s leader in the education field.

The report used the format of a ‘School Report Card’ to rank the leaders as ‘class leaders’ or ‘poor performers’.

Countries were graded and ranked based on their performance on: Complete basic education; state action on free education; quality inputs; gender equality and overall equity — to depict their commitment to basic education.

The ‘Teacher’s Remarks’ section for President Gen Pervez Musharraf reads: “Pervez spends less per pupil than most of his South Asian neighbours and charges user fees in full. Such low spending can only deliver pitiable results: Two out of three Pakistani adults are illiterate, with the same proportion of secondary school age children out of school; four out of 10 children are missing primary school; girls and women constitute majority of those who are denied access to and equal chance for complete basic education.

“In addition, Pakistan’s primary school teachers are overworked and under-trained. In all aspects, there is clearly little quality and state action and commitment in the public education he offers, given the spending and the charges. This puts him at the bottom of the class too.”

The report also evaluated the scale of Pakistani children missing out in access to basic education: 45.3 per cent have no access to early childhood care and education; 40.3 per cent to primary school, and 76.1 per cent to secondary school.

The level of adult illiteracy in Pakistan at 58.9 per cent is one of the three highest among the 14 countries ranked in the report.

Pakistan’s favourable cost per pupil rating is offset by a poor trained teachers per pupil ratio (51 pupils to every trained teacher) — perhaps indicating that investments in education should be spent more judiciously on quality learning inputs such as teachers training or in mobilizing women teachers.

On the scale of 14, Thailand has been placed at first place followed by Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Philippines, China, Vietnam, Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Nepal, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Pakistan — in that order.