Expenditures on education-related expenditures during the fiscal year 2021 witnessed an increase of 9.7 per cent, reaching Rs. 988 billion. The cumulative education expenditures by federal and provincial governments declined to 1.77 per cent of GDP in the fiscal year 2020-21.
Literacy rate in males surged from 73.0 percent to 73.4 percent and female literacy from 51.5 percent to 51.9 percent. Area-wise analysis suggests literacy rate increase in both rural (53.7 percent) and urban (76.1 percent to 77.3 percent).
The male-female literacy rate disparity seems to be narrowing down with time. The literacy rate has increased in all provinces, from 66.1 per cent to 66.3 per cent in Punjab, 61.6 per cent to 61.8 per cent in Sindh and 53.9 per cent to 54.5 per cent in Balochistan.
The total number of enrolments during 2019-20 was recorded at 55.7 million compared to 53.1 million during 2018-19, which shows an increase of 4.9 per cent. This number is estimated to increase to 58.5 million during 2020-21.
An amount of Rs. 9.7 billion was allocated in PSDP FY2022 for 24 ongoing and four new development projects of the Ministry of Education and Professional Training, according to a survey by the Pakistan Institute of Fiscal Studies (PIFS).
During the fiscal year 2022, an amount of Rs. 54.3 billion was allocated by the Government of Punjab for 110 ongoing and 405 new development projects in the education sector. During the same period, the Sindh government dedicated Rs. 30.3billion for 225 ongoing and 283 new developments in the sector.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government allocated Rs. 24.6 billion in the fiscal year 2022 for 172 ongoing and 39 new development projects. This amount is 94 per cent higher than the last year’s allocation. On the other hand, the Balochistan government allocated a total of Rs. 31.4 billion for 510 ongoing and 380 new projects.
