KARACHI: High school and higher secondary enrolment decrease in Pakistan as compared to primary, middle and technical education, according to a Ministry of Finance report.

A total of 31.6 thousand high schools with 560.6 thousand teachers were functional in the country. A decrease of 1.9 per cent in high school enrolment has been observed as dropped to 3,583.0 thousand in 2016-17 against 3,652.5 thousand in 2015-16. It is estimated to increase by 5.1 per cent i.e. from 3583.1 thousand to3765.2 thousand in 2017-18.

A total of 5.1 thousand higher secondary schools/inter colleges with 120.3 thousand teachers were functional in 2016-17. A decrease of 6.1 per cent in higher secondary enrolment has been observed as it dropped to 1,594.9 thousand in 2016-17 against 1,698.0 thousand in 2015-16. It is estimated to increase by 9.8 per cent i.e. from 1,594.9 thousand to 1750.6 thousand in 2017-18. However, at the national level, an increase of 16.8 per cent is observed in pre-primary enrolment which went up to 11,437 thousand in 2016-17compared to 9,792 thousand in 2015-16. Enrolment is estimated to increase further by 7.8 per cent i.e. from 11,437 thousand to 12,328thousand in 2017-18.

At the national level, a total of 169.6 thousand primary schools with 475.2 thousand teachers were functional in 2016-17. An increase of 0.6percent in primary enrolment was witnessed which increased to 21,686 thousand in 2016-17 against 21,551 thousand in 2015-16. Primary enrolment is estimated to increase to 22,521thousand in 2017-18. During the academic year 2016-17, a total of 49.1 thousand middle schools with 455.4 thousand teachers were functional in the whole country.

At the national level, an increase of 1.1 per cent in middle enrolment has been observed as it went up to 6,996 thousand in 2016-17 against 6,922 thousand in 2015.16. Middle enrolment is estimated to have increased by 2.8 per cent i.e. from 6,996 thousand to 7,189 thousand in 2017-18. A total of 3.8 thousand technical & vocational institutes with 18.2 thousand teachers were functional in 2016-17.

A rise of 9.4 per cent enrolment was witnessed as it increased to 344.8 thousand in 2016-17 against 315.2 thousand in 2015-16. It is projected to increase by 3.9 per cent i.e. from 344.8 thousand to 358.3 thousand during 2017-18.