Higher Education Commission:Rs.15762.5 millionNational education budget (2010)
Education Division: Rs.5140.9 million
General Details
Primary Languages: Urdu and English.
System Type: Mainly public
Literacy (2008)
Total: 56.2[1]
Male: 68.2[1]
Female: 43.6[1]
Primary: 87.3%[2]
Secondary: 44%[2]
Post Secondary: 4.7%[3]
Pakistan has very varied scenery from coastal beaches, lagoons and mangrove swamps in the south to sandy deserts, desolate plateaus, fertile plains, dissected upland in the middle and high mountains with beautiful valleys, snow-covered peaks and eternal glaciers in the north.
The variety of landscape divides Pakistan into six major regions the North High Mountainous Region, the Western Low Mountainous Region, the Balochistan Plateau, the Potohar Uplands, the Punjab and the Sindh Plains High Mountain Region. Pakistan, officially Islamic Republic of Pakistan, republic in south Asia, bordered on the north and north-west by Afghanistan, on the north-east by Jammu and Kashmir, on the east and south-east by India, on the south by the Arabian Sea, and on the west by Iran. The status of Jammu and Kashmir is a matter of dispute between India and Pakistan. Pakistan became an independent state in 1947. Until December 1971 it included the province of East Pakistan (previously East Bengal), which, after its secession from Pakistan, assumed the name Bangladesh. The area of Pakistan is 796,095 sq km (307,293 sq mi), excluding the section of Jammu and Kashmir under its control. The capital of Pakistan is Islamabad; Karachi is the largest city.
Population 129,808,000 (1995 estimate) Population Density 163 people/sq km (422 people/sq mi) (1996 estimate) Urban/Rural Breakdown 32%Urban 68%Rural Largest Cities Karachi5,103,000 Lahore2,922,000 Faisalabad1,092,000 (1981 census) Ethnic Groups 48%Punjabi 13%Pashto 12%Sindhi 10%Saraiki 8%Urdu 9%Other including Baluchis and Afghans Languages Official Language English National Language Urdu Other Languages Punjabi, English, Pashto, Sindhi, Saraiki, Baluchi Religions 97%Islam 3%Other including Christianity, Hinduism, and Buddhism
Only 65 percent of adult Pakistanis are literate. The constitution prescribes free primary education. While enrollment rate in primary school is high for boys, less than one-half of girls attend school. Five years has been established as the period of primary school attendance. In the 1996 school year 81 percent of primary school-aged children were enrolled in school, while only 30 percent of secondary school-aged children attended. In the early 1990s, 336,600 students attended institutions of higher education. Among Pakistan’s leading universities are the University of Karachi (1951), the University of the Punjab (1882), in Lahore; the University of Peshawar (1950); the University of Sind (1947), in Dadu; and the University of Agriculture (1909), in Faisalabad.
ISLAMABAD, 10 September 2004 (IRIN) - Pakistan needs to launch a robust national social movement in order to achieve the Education For All (EFA) target of 86 percent adult literacy by 2015, according to an official of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO). "This is an immense task but it is feasible if we work in a focused way. The social sector, especially education, has not received in the past the necessary attention it deserved. Now it's time to accelerate efforts for the promotion of literacy [and to put them] on a war footing," Jorge Sequeira, UNESCO representative to Pakistan, told IRIN in the capital, Islamabad. The overall adult literacy rate in Pakistan is currently estimated at 54 percent. The total number of illiterate people in the country has more than doubled in absolute numbers over the past half-century, according to a UNESCO report. In 1951, there were nearly 22 millin who couldn't read in Pakistan, while the 1998 census results showed that the illiterate population has risen to 48 million. "Pakistan represents immense challenges in education but the opportunities are also huge," Sequeira said, stressing, "We have to run nationwide literacy campaigns involving partnerships with religious groups, international and national agencies, and governments at district and provincial levels, as well as parliamentarians. Only then will we be able to achieve the targets." Sequeira added: "Literacy is certainly an issue. How to achieve literacy? I'd say 'partnership' is the key word for that, because the government alone can never chase high literacy standards, nor the UN system alone, nor any particular NGO. We have to work altogether and that means the media, civil society NGOs - both national and international - and other stakeholders." Educational experts have commended the recent initiatives of the government for the provision of free textbooks, the abolition of school fees up to the 10th grade and the allowance for girls in underdeveloped districts. The UN children's agency UNICEF and the World Food Programme (WFP) on Wednesday jointly announced a four-year programme worth about US $27 million to accelerate girls' enrolment in 1,068 primary schools in nine districts of the country. Under the programme, the WFP will provide edible oil as an incentive to attract girls to schools, while UNICEF will support teacher training and provide basic teaching and learning materials to improve the quality of education. The joint efforts are expected to result in the enrolment, retention and completion of about 175,000 additional girls, with benefits extended to an estimated 250,000 girls currently attending primary schools, according to a UNICEF press statement. Pakistan's primary school dropout rate is the highest in the world, at almost 50 percent, according to UNESCO. Over Pakistan's 57-year history, the practice of missing well marked deadlines under various educational programmes has created a credibility gap, according to a UNESCO report. However, the UNESCO official noted, "Pakistan has made progress in certain areas in recent years. There is positive change in the overall structure - developments in legislation, in devolution and decentralisation. Economic indicators are also positive. So we are convinced that Pakistan government is now committed to combating illiteracy." "Political will, especially at the district level, is crucial for adult literacy. Funding constraints, lack of awareness, absence of interdepartmental coordination and proper evaluation and monitoring of ongoing programmes are other main areas to be addressed to check the low literacy level," Muhammad Salim, programme coordinator for EFA at the Education Ministry, told IRIN in Islamabad.