The government’s education emergency policy has come under renewed scrutiny after a report by the Institute of Social and Policy Sciences (I-SAPS) revealed that over 25 million children remain out of school in Pakistan, despite rising education expenditure across the board, the number of children out of school has continued to increase.
The latest I-SAPS report identifies serious structural flaws in the existing fabric of education that point out that education spending has been allowed to aggregate at about 500 Billion Rupees, yet the pressure has been shifted to common families.
For the first time in Pakistan’s history, the amount households spend on education is greater than what the government.
As per the 15th edition of the I-SAPS report, the public is now sharing the burden of education spending of Rs 280 billion against the Rs 220 billion spent by the government. This translates to the fact that 56 percent of education-related costs are being borne by families and the state is bringing only 44 percent.
The results highlight the diminishing role of government in the funding of education and raised serious questions about issues of access and affordability, especially for low-income households.
The report goes on to disclose that parents are spending an estimated Rs1,310 billion on private school fees, Rs613 billion on coaching and tuition services and Rs878 billion on other education-related costs.
These figures show the rise in dependence on private education as families lose more and more faith in the public education system.
Speaking during a policy dialogue, I-SAPS Executive Director, Dr Salman Humayun said that the household expenditure on education when more than the government spending on education means grave imbalance and erosion of equity within the system.
Echoing these concerns, World Bank Senior Education Specialist Aza Farukh said the proliferation of private schools is an indication of a definite trend of families opting out of public education in general.
I-SAPS Director of Programmes Ahmed Ali said the increasing amount spent by the private sector sends a strong policy message to the government.
He urged the need to strengthen the public education system, effective use of resources and the focus on equality of education, especially for girls and minority communities.
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