A REPORT issued by the Planning Commission paints a sorry picture of the structural inadequacies inherent in Pakistan’s education sector, while raising fresh concerns about the country’s preparedness for the future. The District Education Performance Index report, released on Friday, states that the education system overall is in the ‘low performance’ category, mainly due to insufficient public financing and poor-quality teaching, the latter of which is reflected in students’ persistently low learning outcomes. The country does slightly better in terms of providing infrastructure and access to education, as well as in ensuring inclusivity in terms of equity and access to technology. However, there is an urgent need for improvement in both these areas to reach acceptable levels. Governance and management of educational institutions remain poor, mainly due to teacher shortages and high bureaucratic turnover, the report says. There are stark disparities among the provinces, with Balochistan and Sindh identified as the worst overall in terms of educational performance, while Islamabad and Punjab perform much better in comparison. KP does comparatively well overall, but interprovincial disparities overshadow its commendable progress.

Since the start of Pakistan’s latest economic crisis, it has been clear that much needs to change if we are to build economic resilience and progress towards our true potential. With a massive chunk of the population of school-going age, it is alarming to see the country failing to provide quality education that can prepare its future workers for the challenges of the modern world. It bears repeating that without a sufficiently educated and trained workforce available to power the engine of Pakistan’s economy, there will be no ‘prosperous tomorrow’. The economy will continue to be weighed down by the burgeoning population unless labour force productivity is increased manifold. Because this cannot be achieved without a functioning and efficient educational system in place in all provinces, public financing for education must be made a federal and provincial priority. Lastly, the Planning Commission deserves commendation for its efforts to approach this crisis in a structured and scientific manner. It is hoped that the areas of improvement identified in this report will be acted on with the urgency they deserve and that this index will prove useful in monitoring the outcomes of these remedial measures.

Published in Dawn, August 25th, 2024