Pakistan - 15pc children still out of school in Punjab

Despite announcing emergency and massive school enrollment campaign during 2014 still 15 percent of Punjab’s children aged 6-16 still remain out of school whereas the remaining 85% are enrolled in the 6-16 age bracket, and the percentage has improved since last year (84%).

These findings were made public in the report ASER Survey 2014 launched on Tuesday. Minister for Education Punjab Rana Mashood, Chairperson Idara Taleem o Agahi (ITA) Dr Narmeen Hameed, General Secretary Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) I.A Rehman, Chairman Punjab Higher Education Commission (PHEC) Dr. Nizam u din were present on occasion. The ASER 2014 survey has been conducted by 10,000 volunteers managed by Idara-e-Taleem-o-Aagahi (ITA) along with many key civil society /semi autonomous that include the National Commission for Human Development (NCHD), Democratic Commission for Human Development (DCHD), NRSP and several civil society organizations across Punjab.

The ASER survey rural findings have been based on the information of 54,365 children of age 3 to 16 years (including 44 per cent girls) by 10,000 volunteer citizens, who personally visited 19,888 households in 997 villages. For the year 2014, the ASER rural survey has been conducted in 35 rural districts and 7 urban administrative areas in the Punjab, wherein 5-16 year age cohort 39,107 children were tested for English, Language (Urdu), and Arithmetic competencies.

The report states that the private sector is performing better than the government sector as far as the learning levels of children are concerned. The survey reveals a clear- urban-rural divide, whereby urban areas perform better in terms of access (92% children in schools vs. 85% in rural areas) and infrastructure facilities. This year ASER surveyed, 7 urban districts across Punjab including Lahore, Multan, Bahawalpur, Rahim Yar Khan, Faisalabad, Gujranwala, Rawalpindi. An interesting trend has been observed this year as reflected by ASER Findings.

ASER Punjab 2014 results illustrate a considerable number of children going to non-state schools this year compared to public schools. 37% children of age 6-16 are enrolled in non-state schools in 2014 while last year the percentage was 36%.

According to the report, student competencies in learning English, Arithmetic, and Language are deplorable i.e. 37% of the children from Class V cannot read Class II level text in Urdu. In English, only 57% of the surveyed Class V students could read sentences which should ideally be read by students from the second grade. A similar trend has been observed in Arithmetic capabilities of children where only 51% of class V children were able do a two-digit division respectively, something that is expected in second grade curriculum.

The ASER Survey also has identified that children enrolled in private schools are performing better compared to those studying in government schools; 68% children enrolled in Class-V in private schools were able to read a story in Urdu compared to 60% Class V students studying at government schools.

The difference in learning levels is starker for English, where 63% Grade V could read English Class II level sentences compared to only 54% public sector students! For arithmetic, 55% children enrolled in class V and going to private school can do 2-digit division as compared to 48% government school children enrolled in class V.

Further, the survey explains that boys are outperforming girls in literacy and numeracy skills in rural Punjab. As many as 55% of boys were found able to read at least sentences in Urdu as compared to 52% girls. For Arithmetic, 54% of Class V boys were able to do Class II level subtraction as compared to only 50% Class V girls. In addition to the assessment of children, the report also highlights school functioning across every district in Punjab. The ASER rural survey informs that over all teachers’ attendance in government schools and private schools both stood at 93% on the day of the survey. Government teachers were reported to have better qualifications at graduate levels; for example, 58% teachers in private schools are graduates in comparison to 74% in government schools, however the reverse is the case for MA/MSc or post graduate qualifications, whereby larger percentage of public sector teachers have a higher qualification than private sector counterparts. But then do qualifications matter more than attitudes and pedagogies?

The trends in multi-grade teaching across schools are also mixed. ASER 2014 Punjab rural findings have found 32% of government and 26% of private schools imparting multi-grade teaching at Class II level. On the contrary, at the Class VIII level, multi-grade teaching is more prevalent in the private sector 24% vs. 8% in government schools.

Despite of the fact that only 6% private primary schools receive funds from the government (as compared to 62% public primary schools), the private sector has been reported to be better at school facilities. For example, 90% private primary schools had boundary-walls as compared to 86% government primary schools.

Similarly, with regard to availability of functional toilets, it has been found that the facility was still not available in 8% public and private primary schools in rural Punjab! Nevertheless, if compared with other provinces, Punjab is surely performing better than Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan in terms of all indicators, enrolment, learning levels etc.