National News

ISLAMABAD, August 3 (APP): Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) and
Punjab registered a positive shift in enrolment in to public sector schools in 2016 while in KP and Sindh,the share remains the same as 2015.
These findings were made public in the report of Pakistan’s
largest-annual citizen-led household based seventh ASER Survey 2016.
The report aims to inform about the progress with respect to Article
25 A of the constitution making education a fundamental right for
5-16 year old children since 2010 and also for tracking progress towards
Sustainable Development Goals measuring learning at the lower primary
level.
According to the report. the Parliamentarians must decide between a
future based on an educated Pakistan and a dead end that marginalises
learning and undervalues social capital.
The narrative on education must change dramatically under the
current and future democratic dispensation.
Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Sindh, Gilgit Baltistan and FATA
all recorded increases in enrolment ranging between 1.4% to 4.5%. ASER
2016 rural results illustrate a considerable number of children going to non-state schools; 26% children of age 6-16 are enrolled in private sector in 2016 while last year the percentage was 24%.
According to the report, student competencies in learning English,
Arithmetic, and Language have dipped.
The survey explains that boys are outperforming girls in literacy
and numeracy skills. As many as 43% of boys were found able to read at
least sentences in Urdu/Sindhi/Pashto as compared to 36% girls. For
Arithmetic, 44% of Class V boys were able to do Class II level subtraction as compared to only 36% Class V girls.
For enrolment, overall girls’ enrolment (rural) has been increasing
since 2014, from 35% to 38% in government schools and from 37% to 40%
in 2016 in private schools.
If given attention, this increase in enrolment can also
lead towards an increase in learning for girls- the two can reinforce one
another.
In addition to the assessment of children, the report also highlights
schools functioning across every district in Pakistan. The ASER rural survey
informs that over all teachers’ attendance in government schools stood at
87% as compared to 92% in private schools on the day of the survey.
While private school teachers were reported to have better
qualifications at graduate levels; 38% teachers in private schools are
graduates compared to 33% in government schools; however, for MA/MSC
or post graduate qualifications, larger percentage of public sector teachers
have a higher qualification than private sector counterparts.
The trends in multi-grade teaching across schools are also mixed.
ASER 2016 National rural findings have found 44% of government
and 29% of private schools imparting multi-grade teaching at Class II level; whilst at the Class VIII level, multi-grade teaching is more prevalent in the private sector 15% vs 11% in government schools.
Only 4% private primary schools receive funds/grants (as compared
to 37% public primary schools). As for provinces, the clear winners on
facility improvement in public sector from 2015 results, are Punjab, KP and
ICT while the rest remain below 80% coverage. Punjab has outstripped
private sector facilities record and KP is not far behind. This is good news; safe and conducive environments will affect learning positively across public and private schools.
The usage of ICTs and solar energy reveals powerful trends, even
in the most unlettered and fragile households. Once such facilities are
expanded to a critical mass and combined with human agency, learning
spaces are bound to be multiplied.
ASER has undoubtedly played a unique role in informing the general
public, inspiring a national discourse and initiate demand for policy and
action leading to transformation from the bottom-up.
ASER is indeed a powerful conversation to be engaged with in the
years to come as a core partner for Article 25 A and SDG 4, building
multiple constituencies for policy, planning and action on learning and equity.