Hurdles in achieving education MDGs

Islamabad—The challenge caused by shortage of resources will make it difficult for

Pakistan to achieve the UN target of Education for All (EFA) and Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015.
The government announced an education policy in 2009 in line with the Education for
All (EFA) and Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) according to which Pakistan
should take its literacy rate to 86 percent by 2015 by starting to spend seven percent of
GDP by the same year.
Other target is to achieve universal free primary education by the middle of next decade.
But it is a tall order and the country has to overcome formidable hurdles to even come
close to its targets.
EFA goals are explicit and stress on improvement of early childhood care and calls for
free compulsory primary eduction and equitable access for all adults to gain beneficial
learning skills.
The EFA Global Monitoring Report 2010 of UNESCO says Pakistan is among a group of
29 countries which is not likely to achieve target of EFA and MDGs by 2015.
The report mentions that with the slow place at which literacy rate is increasing by 1.8
percent annually and now stands at 57 pc, Pakistan will attain literacy rate of 64 percent
by 2015.
As things stand today, Pakistan will take another 15 years to achieve literacy rate of 86
percent and 38 years to attain universal primary education, the report states.
Figures tell that there is less allocation of funds for education and at present 50 million
people in Pakistan are illiterate.
In 2007-08 Pakistan spent 2.49 percent of its GDP on education, 2.10 percent in 2008-09
and 2.05 percent in 2009-10.
According to Global Monitoring Report of UNESCO, as percentage of GDP, Pakistan
spent 2.8 percent public expenditure on education whereas it was 3.3% in India, 5.6% in
Iran, 5.4% in Sri Lanka, 8.3% in Maldives, 3.8% in Nepal and 2.4% in Bangladesh.
According to the UN Human Development Index, out of 206 countries Pakistan is ranked
141 in terms of literacy rate and enrolment at primary, secondary and tertiary level.
Minister for Education Sardar Aseff Ahmed Ali says that the government wanted to raise
education allocation to six percent of GDP but budget constraints are in its way. He calls
on the provinces to do more as more funds are diverted to them after the announcement
of National Finance Commission Award.
Talking to APP, Chairman Senate Standing Committee on Education S.M Zafar said
public sector expenditure on education is a matter of grave concern.
And he agrees that after NFC award, provinces and local governments should take the
lead on issues like low literacy and parallel education system. He quotes newly inserted
article 25 A of the constitution which states that “The State shall provide free and
compulsory education to all children of the age of five to sixteen years.”—APP
Challenges too big to achieve Education for All, MDGs.
ISLAMABAD, June 27, 2010 (Balochistan Times): The challenge caused by shortage of
resources will make it difficult for Pakistan to achieve the UN target of Education for All
(EFA) and Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015. The government
announced an education policy in 2009 in line with the Education for All (EFA) and
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) according to which Pakistan should take its
literacy rate to 86 percent by 2015 by starting to spend seven percent of GDP by the same
year. Other target is to achieve universal free primary education by the middle of next
decade. But it is a tall order and the country has to overcome formidable hurdles to even
come close to its targets. EFA goals are explicit and stress on improvement of early
childhood care and calls for free compulsory primary education and equitable access for
all adults to gain beneficial learning skills. The EFA Global Monitoring Report 2010 of
UNESCO says Pakistan is among a group of 29 countries which is not likely to achieve
target of EFA and MDGs by 2015. The report mentions that with the slow place at which
literacy rate is increasing by 1.8 percent annually and now stands at 57 pc, Pakistan will
attain literacy rate of 64 percent by 2015. As things stand today, Pakistan will take
another 15 years to achieve literacy rate of 86 percent and 38 years to attain universal
primary education, the report states. Figures tell that there is less allocation of funds for
education and at present 50 million people in Pakistan are illiterate. In 2007-08 Pakistan
spent 2.49 percent of its GDP on education, 2.10 percent in 2008-09 and 2.05 percent in
2009-10. According to Global Monitoring Report of UNESCO, as percentage of GDP,
Pakistan spent 2.8 percent public expenditure on education whereas it was 3.3% in India,
5.6% in Iran, 5.4% in Sri Lanka, 8.3% in Maldives, 3.8% in Nepal and 2.4% in
Bangladesh. According to the UN Human Development Index, out of 206 countries
Pakistan is ranked 141 in terms of literacy rate and enrolment at primary, secondary and
tertiary level. Minister for Education Sardar Aseff Ahmed Ali says that the government
wanted to raise education allocation to six percent of GDP but budget constraints are in
its way. He calls on the provinces to do more as more funds are diverted to them after the
announcement of National Finance Commission Award. Chairman Senate Standing
Committee on Education S.M Zafar said public sector expenditure on education is a
matter of grave concern. And he agrees that after NFC award, provinces and local
governments should take the lead on issues like low literacy and parallel education
system. He quotes newly inserted article 25 A of the constitution which states that The
State shall provide free and compulsory education to all children of the age of five to
sixteen years. The Standing Committee plans to hold a meeting to be attended all the
provincial education ministers to highlight the constitutional obligations of the
government in the field of education. The challenges are ominous and there is a need for
more commitment from the political leadership to translate vision into reality. A key
factor is missing facilities in schools and according to latest data 70 percent of primary
schools are housed in two rooms. Majority of schools are without clean drinking water,
wash rooms, electricity and play grounds. Instead of bridging the class divides, the
education system is exacerbating the situation. Poor students can only afford Urdu
medium education in madaris and public sector schools. While the rich have the luxury to
educate their children in elite private schools. Senator S.M Zafar rightly asks what would
be the future of a society where such a large number of people dont even have the basic
education skills to survive in a challenging global environment.