The incumbent government has failed to perform well in education sector in the out-going year, as the overall Gross Enrollment Ratio (GER) at the primary level for the age group (5-9 years) at the national level has witnessed 3 per cent decline during 2015-16, which recorded 87 per cent as compared to 90 per cent in 2013-14.

The province-wise GER indicated that the decrease in overall GER in Pakistan is mainly due to decline in Punjab and Balochistan. In Punjab the GER declined from 100 per cent in 2013-14 to 93 per cent in 2015-16, while GER in Balochistan has witnessed a decline of 7 per cent from 67 per cent in 2013-14 to 60 per cent in 2015-16

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa GER also slightly declined as it stood at 88 per cent in 2015-16 against 89 per cent in 2013-14, the survey revealed. However, according to the survey, only Sindh has shown some improvement of 2 per cent by achieving primary level GER at 78 per cent in 2015-16 against 76 per cent in 2013-14.

Similarly, the overall National Enrollment Ratio (NER) at the primary level for the age group at National level during 2015-16 recorded at 54 per cent as compared to 57 per cent in 2013-14.

Province-wise NER indicates only Sindh remained stable with 48 per cent while Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa declined from 64 per cent to 59 per cent and 54 per cent to 53 per cent. Balochistan has witnessed a significant decline from 39 per cent in 2013-14 to 33 per cent in 2015-16, the survey showed.

Moreover, the survey showed that at national level, pre-primary enrolment witnessed an increase of 2.1 per cent as it increased to 9,791,725 in 2015-16 as compared to 9,589,223 in 2014-15. However, it is estimated to increase further by 1.9 per cent i.e. from 9,791,725 to 9,976,263 during 2016-17.

The total number of enrolments at national level during 2015-16 stood at 46.223 million as compared to 43.948 million during 2014-15. This shows an increase of 5.2 per cent and it is estimated to increase to 47.834 million during 2016-17.

The total number of institutes stood at 252.8 thousands during 2015-16 as compared to 252.6 thousands during last year. However, the number of institutes is estimated to increase to 257.1 thousands during 2016-17, the survey revealed.

According to the survey, the total number of teachers during 2015-16 was 1.630 million as compared to 1.588 million during last year, showing an increase of 2.6 per cent. This number of teachers is estimated to increase further to 1.667 million during the year 2016-17.

According to the Household Integrated Income and Consumption Survey (HIICS) 2015-16 at “National/Provincial levels with urban/rural breakdown, the literacy rate of the population (10 years and above) remained at 58 per cent as compared to previous conducted Pakistan Social and Living Standards Measurement (PSLM) survey at national/provincial level in 2013-14.

The survey showed that the literacy remains much higher in urban areas (74 per cent) than in rural areas (49 per cent), with male (81 per cent) and female (68 per cent) in urban areas.

Province wise data suggested that Punjab and Sindh lead with 62 per cent and 55 per cent respectively followed by Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa with 53 per cent and Balochistan with 41 per cent.

In Federal Public Sector Development Programme FY 2017, an amount of Rs 2.22 billion has been provided for 12 on-going and new projects of the education and professional training. An amount of Rs 3.06 billion has also been allocated for 13 education related projects being handled by Finance and Capital Administration & Development Division (CADD).

Under Prime Minister’s Youth Skill Development Programme (PMYSDM), 73,627 youth both male and female has so far been trained in more than 100 demand-driven trades across Pakistan.

Furthermore, another 100,000 youth will be trained during 2017-18 & 2018-19 under Phase-IV and the allocation for this phase is Rs 6,196.50 million.

The government has initially allocated Rs.21.5 billion under PSDP 2016-17 for 122 (83 ongoing & 39 new) development projects being executed in Public Sector Universities/HEIs and HEC.

In addition to this allocation, later on, the government allocated development grant of Rs 5.4 billion for the Prime Minister’s Laptop Scheme and Rs 0.560 billion for the Project titled “Award of Scholarships to students from Afghanistan under prime minister’s directive”.