8% Girls, 6% boy Still Out Of School: Report

APP
Islamabad: Around 8 percent of girls and 6 percent of boys remain out of school, according to the ASER-2023 report, a flagship project of the Idara-e-Taleem-o-Aagahi (ITA).
The report was unveiled on International Women’s Day, with attendees including senior educationists, government officials, civil society representatives, and media personnel.
Former federal education minister Rana Tanveer Hussain attended as the chief guest, emphasizing the report’s importance in guiding decision-makers to address concerns, particularly regarding girls’ education.
Province-wise results indicate a widening gender gap in out-of-school children, notably in Balochistan, Sindh, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Although the gender gap has decreased over time, 14 percent of both girls and boys aged 6–16 in rural areas are still out of the education system, posing a significant concern for policymakers.
Participants at the event urged decisive action to support girls and other marginalized groups. ASER’s findings reveal over 272,000 children aged 3-5 across rural and urban areas, attending 8765 public and private schools, madrassahs, and NFE centers. More than 200,000 children aged 5–16 were assessed on foundational learning in Urdu, Arithmetic, and English.
The twelfth launch of ASER Pakistan, focusing on foundational literacy and numeracy, involved over 10,000 educated enumerators working alongside 16 civil society organizations, including the National Commission for Human Development (NCHD).
Despite facing significant challenges to the education system, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic and devastating floods, the ASER rural results for 2023 show promising improvements in enrollment rates for children aged 3-5 years (42% in 2023) and 6-16 years (88% in 2023), compared to 79% in 2014.
The report indicates an overall decline in learning outcomes from 2021 to 2023 for grade 5 students in Urdu (from 54.9% to 50%) and Arithmetic (from 51.4% to 46.3%). However, there are some positive developments in specific regions. For instance, there’s an 8.5% increase in Urdu proficiency (story level) in Gilgit-Baltistan and a 5% improvement in arithmetic (2-digit division) in Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT). Between 2014 and 2019, Pakistan witnessed significant improvements in learning levels, with gains of 15-17% in Urdu, Arithmetic, and English. However, these gains suffered setbacks during the COVID-19 pandemic and floods.