The state of education in Pakistan is in shambles
Pakistan is the second country in the world with the highest number of children who do not go to school. In 2018, Pakistan’s literacy rate was a little over 60 per cent. The country has the largest out of school population, 22.8 million children (ages 5-16), after Nigeria. Only 18 percent of Pakistani women have received 10 years or more of formal education. Pakistan is facing a serious challenge to ensure all children, particularly the most disadvantaged, attend, stay and learn in school. While enrollment and retention rates are improving, progress has been slow to improve education indicators in Pakistan.
More recently, the predicaments of Pakistan’s education sector multiplied when coronavirus forced educational institutions to be closed across the country. The government launched an educational television channel, Teleschool, broadcasting lessons from kindergarten through high school and using instructional videos in Urdu and English. Instructional programming, it was announced, was also to be developed for radio since Teleschool was not available to the nation’s poorest families. The poor were further marginalised when students belonging to the higher income groups started getting some instruction through online classes.
Hope Beyond Frontiers works with local and international partners to improve the number of primary school students attending school in the country.