Education in Pakistan

The country of Pakistan is a profound patriarchal society. Throughout Pakistan's educational system, there is a gender disparity between males and females. In fact, according to the 2016 Global Gender Gap Report, Pakistan was ranked the second worst country in the world regarding gender inequality.[25]

In Pakistan, gender discrimination in education occurs among the poorest households.[26] Only 18% of Pakistani women have received 10 years or more of schooling.[27][26] Among other criticisms the Pakistani education system faces is the gender disparity in enrollment levels. However, in recent years some progress has been made in trying to fix this problem. In 1990–91, the female to male ratio (F/M ratio) of enrollment was 0.47 for primary level of education. It reached to 0.74 in 1999–2000, showing the F/M ratio has improved by 57.44% within the decade. For the middle level of education it was 0.42 in the start of decade and increased to 0.68 by the end of decade, so it has improved almost 62%. In both cases the gender disparity is decreased but relatively more rapidly at middle level.[28]

Additionally, Pakistan has showed quite a bit of improvement since 2006 for literacy and educational attainment for women (Moin et al., 2018). One example of this progress recently made in 2010 was that primary education is a legal right for children ranging from five to sixteen years old.[29] The gender disparity in enrollment at secondary level of education was 0.4 in 1990-91 and 0.67 in 1999–2000, showing that the disparity decreased by 67.5% in the decade. At the college level, it was 0.50 in 1990–91 and reached 0.81 in 1999–2000, showing that the disparity decreased by 64%. The gender disparity has decreased comparatively rapidly at secondary school.[28]

But, low female enrollment is still a very prevalent issue. A reason for this is that females who are a vulnerable group, are less likely to access as much education as boys. If they do go to school, this also affects their academic performance. In fact, in the 1990s, only 20% out of 50% enrollment were females who attended formal education. Factually, since female enrollment is so much lower compared to males across all of the provinces in Pakistan, literacy rates along with dropout rates are much higher. In fact, men have a literacy rate of around 67% versus women who have a literacy rate of 42%. Due to this early on prevention of females attending schools, males dominate the education field. Teacher-wise males dominate teaching profession by 2:1 with females unable to teach or being barred. If they do, they are limited due to cultural norms and pressures. In fact, there is 1100 males to 1000 female ratio. Additionally, there is not a female university leader presence in the whole country.[23] Even with this improvement, due to their low social status and inequities regarding access to education, even when they comprise half of the population, women are still facing these burdens. This is true even after they signed the Millennium Development Goals. It was meant to eliminate gender disparity in education by 2015.[25] With the little improvement done by the government, people have started to believe that parents prefer to educate boys rather than girls. In regard to education, there are large differences between male and females. One issue is the lack of physical infrastructure that is a particular barrier for girls being able to access education. Families feel that these schools are unsafe for them. Government schools tend to be overcrowded and a far distance for children. However, there does not seem to be gender segregation in the schools that were visited in a study cited.[30] Research indicates that female university students face more gender discrimination than males in the capital city of Pakistan.[31]

A particularly interesting aspect of this gender disparity is representation of Pakistani women in STEMM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics and medicine). In 2013, the issue of women doctors in Pakistan was highlighted in local and international media.[32][33][34][35] According to Pakistan Medical and Dental Council, in many medical colleges in Pakistan, as many as 80% of students are women, but majority of these women do not go on to actually practice medicine, creating a shortage of doctors in rural areas and several specialties (especially surgical fields).[33][35] In 2014, Pakistan Medical and Dental Council introduced a gender-based admission policy, restricting women to 50% of available seats (based on the gender ratios in general population).[36][37] This quota was challenged and subsequently deemed unconstitutional (and discriminatory) by Lahore High Court.[38][39] Research indicates several problems faced by women doctors in Pakistan in their career and education, including lack of implementation of women-friendly policies (like maternity leave, breast-feeding provisions and child-care facilities), and systemic sexism prevalent in medical education and training.[40] Pakistan's patriarchal culture, where women's work outside the home is generally considered less important than her family and household obligations, also make it difficult for women to balance a demanding career.[40] Despite the importance of the issue, no new policies (except now-defunct-quota) have been proposed or implemented to ensure women's retention in workforce.

However, there may be a current possible solution to the gender gap throughout Pakistan. The possible solution would be low-cost private schools or LCPSs which may correct the prevailing gender inequalities in Pakistan. However, after the research, male students are more likely to attend low-cost private schools than female students. This further widens the gender imbalance in the field of education throughout Pakistan. But, if females are able to attend, they academically outperform male students. This is true except for the field of mathematics. This is possibly caused by the fact that a lot of professions are not seen as female oriented. All in all, in the future, these LCPSs may be able to reach more and more of the marginalized groups of people. In the end, a large factor that played into if parents had their children attend these schools were based on their education level. Mostly, on the father's than the mother's education level.[29]

In the end, even with all of the Pakistani government's efforts regarding educational policies, they have tried in vain to adjust and fix the gender disparities that its country is facing.[30] It seems that disinterest of parents to educate their daughters, cultural and religious barriers, high tuition cost, and the poor quality in education are the major reasons for gender disparities in this country.[29] In general, females face many other disparities, as well. In fact, there is less money spend on them for health, education, and household expenditures. With the inadequate education and skills, poor health conditions and lack of access to resources actually decrease the quality of female's life.[41]

However, looking beyond binary genders, there is the case of transgender individuals in Pakistan. According to the Australian Journal of Asian Law, in 2018, Pakistan defined what they consider to be "transgender". According to the Pakistani parliament, a transgender individual is a person who is; intersex, eunuch assigned male when born, or a transgender man/woman whose gender differs from what they were assigned as at birth. They also passed The Pakistan Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act of 2018. This act has many provisions to it that ensure the basic fundamental human rights for transgender individuals. Not only that but should enforced in the same way as cisgender individuals. These rights include; education, employment, health, accessing public places and transportation, voting, holding public office, etc. Going one step further, this also includes the right to recognition as a transgender person. They shall have the right to be recognized as their self-perceived gender and they also will have the right to register themselves as such legally. However, before this act, the Pakistani government recognized five different genders. Additionally, as this journal has stated later on, that it marks transgender individuals as "other" compared to cisgender individuals.[42]

Even with this act, these individuals are abused and are marginalized. For example, hijras, or males who act "feminine" are ridiculed and harassed".[43] Once again, the more "feminine" gender is targeted and have less access to opportunities than their male counterparts.[42] In conclusion, gender disparity is in most aspects of life, going beyond binary genders.

In Pakistan, the quality of education has a declining trend. Shortage of teachers and poorly equipped laboratories have resulted in the out-dated curriculum that has little relevance to present-day needs. The education is based just on cramming and the students lack professional skills as well as communication skills when they are graduated from an institute. Moreover, the universities here are too expensive, due to which the Pakistani students can't afford a university to get higher education. Moreover, the universities here don't provide skills that have a demand in market.[18]

However, there have been numerous reforms to attempt to raise the quality of education in this country. Examples of these include; The Convention of the Rights of the Children (1989), the Millennium Development Goals (UN 1990), and the Sustainable Development Goals (2015). This last reform included free and compulsory education for all children, and access to quality basic education.[23]

Teacher education reform is crucial in improving education in Pakistan. Teacher training programs at universities lack qualified professionals. Almost one-third of universities in Balochistan do not have professors in their teacher education departments and there was not a PhD in Education at any of the universities in Balochistan. Teachers are the focal point of establishing progressive education. Teacher preparation programs need funding and consistency to produce quality, effective teachers. Teacher reform needs to continue by establishing resources and investments. Time needs to be invested in updating curriculum and teacher education facilities. Investments must be made in updating building infrastructures, libraries, IT departments, and laboratories.[44]

Some major obstacles faced by the education system in Pakistan include: access to education, equal opportunities, relevance, required teachers, and environment. There are parts of Pakistan where government leaders have not enacted strategies to help children attend schools. Many children live too far away from school to receive a formal education. Female students are also not offered the same classes as male students in the majority of the schools. In addition to female students being deprived of opportunities, female teachers are also lacking adequate teaching spaces. Another point of weakness education in Pakistan faces is relevance in content. Content should teach students how to solve societal problems and not assist in political conflicts. Students need more opportunities to deepen their knowledge of how to attend to economic and social needs.[45]

Pakistan teachers face knowledge gaps regarding human rights due to outdated teacher education curriculum. Many Pakistani leaders and teachers hold conservative beliefs that education policies need to remain aligned with national Islamic ideology, which does not focus on human rights. Global policy makers are aware that teachers promote human rights and ethics and should receive a course in their teacher training programs about basic human rights. A study revealed that reflective writing and case studies have been the best approach to raising awareness about human rights issues in teacher preparation programs in Pakistan.[46]

Teacher education has an impact on the general education of the country. Within Pakistan there are many common problems within schools, this includes not having proper training facilities, small termed training period, lack of in-service training for teachers, and other issues.[47]

There is a shortage of teachers in Pakistan. Labs are old, outdated, and poorly equipped, and curriculum is very outdated and does not have much relevance to today's world. Issues within the schools include defective teaching materials and curriculum, substandard and under qualified teachers, and overcrowded classrooms.[48]

Education plays a crucial role in developing countries by transmitting necessary life skills to the future citizens. After the eighteenth amendment was abolished in 2010, there was more autonomy available to people in the health care and education spectrums. Technical and Vocational Education Training (TVET) raised attention because education helps prepare students for future employment. TVET classes also offer money management lessons, personal and family health practices, Electronical and Electronics and healthcare information. Providing proper TVET site management, adequate teacher salaries, competent teachers, up-to-date curriculum, and equity in the programs are challenges faced by Pakistani leaders. The major goals of TVET include investing in the country's workforce to stimulate the economy and redistribute the wealth.[49]

Life satisfaction is a characteristic linked to teacher workplace experiences. A recent study in Pakistan compared teachers who were employed by regular institutions and special education institutions. The study asked participants questions about their emotional intelligence and life satisfaction. The results from the teacher institutions study showed that teachers of Pakistani special education institutions reported higher levels of emotional intelligence or self-awareness about their issues and provided ways on how to fix their own problems. Special education teachers also reported higher levels of life satisfaction. The study revealed that the general mood of the workplace is correlated with emotional intelligence. Further research is needed to investigate the mood differences between special education institution environments and regular education institution environments.[50]

Teachers in Pakistan face a range of challenges and issues that impact their ability to provide quality education to students. Here are some common issues faced by teachers in Pakistan:

1. Low pay: Teachers in Pakistan are often paid low salaries, which can make it difficult to attract and retain talented individuals in the profession.
2. Inadequate resources: Teachers in Pakistan often have limited access to resources such as textbooks, classroom materials, and technology, which can make it difficult to provide effective instruction.
3. Overcrowded classrooms: Many classrooms in Pakistan are overcrowded, which can make it challenging for teachers to provide individual attention to each student.
4. Gender discrimination: Female teachers in Pakistan may face discrimination and harassment in the workplace, as well as cultural barriers that limit their access to education and professional development opportunities.
5. Lack of training: Many teachers in Pakistan have limited training and professional development opportunities, which can make it difficult for them to develop new teaching strategies and stay up-to-date with developments in their field.
6. Limited job security: Teachers in Pakistan may have limited job security, which can lead to high turnover rates and a lack of motivation among teachers.
7. Societal and cultural issues: Teachers in Pakistan may face societal and cultural barriers that limit their ability to teach certain subjects or work with certain student populations.

Addressing these issues will require a concerted effort from policymakers, educators, and the broader community to support and empower teachers in their vital role in shaping the future of Pakistani society through education.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the nation launched an educational television channel, Teleschool.[51] Teleschool is programmed with lessons for kindergarten through high school. Each grade has one hour of course material broadcast per day.[51]

Teleschool instructional videos are in Urdu and English, Pakistan's official languages and the languages used for the country's national curriculum.[51]

The Ministry of Education is also trying to develop instructional programming for radio since Teleschool isn't available to the nation's poorest families.[51]

Because of COVID-19, Pakistan had to consider using online classes. However, many students, especially in rural areas, do not have access to the Internet. Because of this it alters the process of online learning especially for poor students or those living in rural areas.[52]

Digital education has been started in many of the educational institution in Pakistan to utilize time efficiently during the current time.[53]

The distance learning mode of education has been recognized as a great resource to give equal access to education to the women from remote areas of developing countries including Pakistan where many women otherwise would not attend school.[54]

At the post-secondary level, there has been much research conducted about the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats when practicing distance learning. They found that this model is great for those that don't live within the same city as where they go to school. It gives them an opportunity to get an education without having to leave their homes. It has been difficult for students that still have to go into the university, because of the distance learning model it has slowed and put a delay in many research processes. The teachers have a lower salary package as well because they are not requiring them to come into work.

[55]

Some of the famous alumni of Pakistan are as follow:

Government College University (Lahore)

Abdus Salam

University of Engineering and Technology, Lahore

Main article: Abdus Salam

Abdus Salam was a Pakistani theoretical physicist and Nobel laureate in physics for his work on the electroweak unification of the electromagnetic and weak forces. Salam, Sheldon Glashow and Steven Weinberg shared the 1979 Nobel prize for this work. Salam holds the distinction of being the first Pakistani to receive the Nobel Prize in any field. Salam heavily contributed to the rise of Pakistani physics to the Physics community in the world.[56][57]

The expenditure on education is around 2% of Pakistan's GDP.[89] However, in 2009 the government approved the new national education policy, which stipulates that education expenditure will be increased to 7% of GDP,[90] an idea that was first suggested by the Punjab government.[91]

The author of an article, the history of education spending in Pakistan since 1972, argues that this policy target raises a fundamental question: What extraordinary things are going to happen that would enable Pakistan to achieve within six years what it has been unable to lay a hand on in the past six decades? The policy document is blank on this question and does not discuss the assumptions that form the basis of this target. Calculations of the author show that during the past 37 years, the highest public expenditure on education was 2.80 percent of GDP in 1987–88. Public expenditure on education as a percentage of GDP was actually reduced in 16 years and maintained in 5 years between 1972–73 and 2008–09. Thus, out of total 37 years since 1972, public expenditure on education as a percentage of GDP either decreased or remained stagnant for 21 years. The author argues if linear trend were maintained since 1972, Pakistan could have touched 4 percent of GDP well before 2015. However, it is unlikely to happen because the levels of spending have had remained significantly unpredictable and unsteady in the past. Given this disappointing trajectory, increasing public expenditure on education to 7 percent of GDP would be nothing less than a miracle but it is not going to be of godly nature. Instead, it is going to be the one of political nature because it has to be "invented" by those who are at the helm of affairs. The author suggests that little success can be made unless Pakistan adopts an "unconventional" approach to education. That is to say, education sector should be treated as a special sector by immunizing budgetary allocations for it from fiscal stresses and political and economic instabilities. Allocations for education should not be affected by squeezed fiscal space or surge in military expenditure or debts. At the same time, there is a need to debate others options about how Pakistan can "invent" the miracle of raising education expenditure to 7 percent of GDP by 2015.[92]

In 2018, for first time NUST, Islamabad was ranked among top 100 QS Asia University rankings at 91. Also 7 universities of Pakistan were ranked among top 1000 QS Asia University rankings 2018.[93] As of 2022, total 6 universities were ranked in top 1000: NUST (#358), Quaid-i-Azam University (#378), PIEAS (#398), LUMS (#651), UET, Lahore (#801), and University of the Punjab (#801).[94]

Education in Pakistan is heavily influenced by religion. For instance, one study of Pakistani science teachers showed that many rejected evolution based on religious grounds.[95] However, most of the Pakistani teachers who responded to the study (14 out of 18) either accepted or considered the possibility of the evolution of living organisms, although nearly all Pakistani science teachers rejected human evolution because they believed that 'human beings did not evolve from monkeys.' This is a major misconception and incorrect interpretation of the science of evolution, but according to the study it is a common one among many Pakistani teachers. Although many of the teachers rejected the evolution of humans, " all agreed that there is 'no contradiction between science and Islam' in general".[95]

According to the Pakistan's National Council for Justice and Peace (NCJP) report 2001 on literacy of religious minorities in Pakistan–the average literacy rate among Christians in Punjab is 34 per cent, Hindu (upper caste) is 34 per cent, Hindu (scheduled castes) is 19 per cent, others (including Parsis, Sikhs, Buddhists and nomads) is 17 per cent compared to the national average of 46.56 per cent.Whereas the Ahmadis have literacy rate slightly higher than the national average.[96]

The definition of literacy has been undergoing changes, with the result that the literacy figure has vacillated irregularly during the last censuses and surveys. A summary is as follows:[97]

Mean Years of Schooling in Pakistan by administrative unit

Unit[107]	1990	1995	2000	2005	2010	2012	2015	2018
Azad Jammu & Kashmir	3.78	4.59	5.42	7.47	7.22	7.35	6.92	6.51
Balochistan	1.77	2.15	2.53	3.49	3.25	3.14	3.17	3.10
FATA	1.42	1.73	2.04	2.81	2.71	2.69	2.60	2.45
Gilgit-Baltistan	2.01	2.44	2.88	3.97	3.84	3.80	4.59	5.17
Islamabad (ICT)	4.16	5.05	5.96	8.21	9.67	10.70	9.62	8.34
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa	1.83	2.22	2.62	3.62	3.80	3.97	3.95	3.82
Punjab	1.96	2.38	2.81	3.88	4.44	4.85	5.23	5.41
Sindh	2.43	2.95	3.48	4.79	5.19	5.51	5.35	5.05
Pakistan	2.28	2.77	3.27	4.51	4.68	4.85	5.09	5.16

After the approval of the World Health Organization and the Ministry of Education of China, SICAS institutions have exemplified and classified Chinese universities where Pakistani students recognized by pmdc come to study in China[112] through online methods As of January 2015, the International Schools Consultancy (ISC)[113] listed Pakistan as having 439 international schools.[114] ISC defines an 'international school' in the following terms "ISC includes an international school if the school delivers a curriculum to any combination of pre-school, primary or secondary students, wholly or partly in English outside an English-speaking country, or if a school in a country where English is one of the official languages, offers an English-medium curriculum other than the country's national curriculum and is international in its orientation."[114] This definition is used by publications including The Economist.[115]

• Muhammad Iqbal's educational philosophy
• List of administrative units of Pakistan by Human Development Index
• List of special education institutions in Pakistan
• Lists of educational institutions in Pakistan
• Pakistan studies
• Pakistani textbooks controversy
• Right to Education Pakistan, an advocacy campaign
• Catholic Board of Education, Pakistan

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• Rahman, Tariq. Denizens of Alien Worlds: A Study of Education, Inequality and Polarization in Pakistan. Karachi: Oxford University Press, 2004. Reprinted 2006. ISBN 978-0-19-597863-6.
• Rosser, Yvette Claire (2003). Curriculum as Destiny: Forging National Identity in India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh (PDF) (Dissertation). University of Texas at Austin. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 September 2008. Retrieved 16 November 2017.
• Rubina Saigol. Knowledge and Identity – Articulation of Gender in Educational Discourse in Pakistan, ASR, Lahore 1995
• Tariq Rahman, Denizens of Alien Worlds: A Study of Education, Inequality and Polarization in Pakistan Karachi, Oxford University Press, 2004. Reprint. 2006
• Tariq Rahman, Language, Ideology and Power: Language learning among the Muslims of Pakistan and North India Karachi, Oxford UP, 2002.
• Tariq Rahman, Language and Politics in Pakistan Karachi: Oxford UP, 1996. Rept. several times. see 2006 edition.
• World Bank Case Study on Primary Education in Pakistan
• Sarangapani, Padma M., and Rekha Pappu, eds. Handbook of Education Systems in South Asia (Springer Singapore, 2019).
• Tanweer, Bilal. "Revisiting the Madrasa Question". The News International, 6 May 2007. About a talk given by Dr. Nomanul Haq (University of Pennsylvania) at the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS), Pakistan.

Wikiquote has quotations related to Education in Pakistan.

• World Data on Education, IBE (2011) – overview of Pakistan's education system
• TVET in Pakistan, UNESCO-UNEVOC(2013) – overview of the technical and vocational education system in Pakistan
• "Pakistan ruined by language myth" – Zubeida Mustafa