ISLAMABAD: An official report released on Friday has categorized Pakistan’s education system as performing at a “low” level and highlighted critical areas needing improvement to enhance education outcomes.
The District Education Performance Index (DEPIx) Report 2020-23, published by the Planning Commission, indicates that Pakistan’s national average score in the DEPIx is 53.46, placing the country in the “low” performance category.
Among the five domains assessed, “infrastructure and access” scored the highest at 58.95, showing some progress in expanding educational opportunities. The “inclusion” domain, which covers equity and technology, followed as the second-highest.
The report revealed that “public financing” received the lowest score, emphasizing the need for increased and better-targeted spending in education. The “learning” domain also scored poorly, reflecting persistently low learning outcomes among students. “Governance and management,” while slightly better than learning, still falls into the “low” category due to issues such as teacher shortages and high bureaucratic turnover.
The report notes that no district falls into the “very high” performance category, with only Islamabad in the “high” category. It highlights that more than half of Pakistan’s districts (76) fall into the “low” performance category, primarily in Balochistan and Sindh. Notably, all districts in Balochistan are in the “low” category, indicating severe challenges in the province.
Punjab emerged as the top-performing province with a composite score of 61.39, followed by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) with a score of 54.88. Sindh and Balochistan lagged behind with scores of 51.49 and 45.70, respectively. Among the top 10 districts, all are from Punjab and KP, with no representation from Sindh or Balochistan.
The report also underscores significant intra-provincial disparities in education performance. KP shows the greatest variation, with top performers like Haripur and Chitral contrasting sharply with lower performers such as Kolai Palas and Upper Kohistan. Punjab and Balochistan exhibit the least variation, with most districts in Punjab falling into the medium category and all districts in Balochistan in the low category. Sindh shows moderate variation, with urban districts like Karachi and Hyderabad performing better.
The Planning Commission’s report reflects a need for urgent reforms to address these educational challenges and improve outcomes across the country.
