The Girls\u2019 Education Statistics and Trends Report 2023\u201324 was launched at the Pakistan Institute of Education, presenting a detailed snapshot of progress and persistent barriers to girls education in Pakistan. The study, prepared by the Pakistan Institute of Education together with the Malala Fund, PAGE and the Ministry of Education, was unveiled by Federal Minister Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui and attended by senior officials and education experts.<\/p>\n
The report highlights considerable infrastructure gains: 96% of schools are housed in permanent buildings, 92% have functional toilet facilities and 82% provide access to clean drinking water. At the same time, health concerns such as malnutrition\u2014resulting in stunting and underweight children\u2014remain a serious constraint on learning and retention. Notably, the primary completion rate for girls has increased from 75% to 89%, reflecting steady year-on-year improvements in access and school conditions.<\/p>\n
Minister Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui stressed that reliable data is essential for effective policymaking and practical action, noting the country\u2019s large youth cohort and the need to turn that demographic into an asset. He emphasised that preventing girls from dropping out requires changing social attitudes and enabling families to let girls pursue education and careers. The Minister said that serious measures for girls education are now an urgent national priority and pledged to use available resources to address gaps.<\/p>\n
Minister of State Wajiha Qamar said an action plan will follow to convert the report\u2019s findings into reforms. Director General Dr. Muhammad Shahid Soroya highlighted academic gains: National Achievement Test 2023 results show girls outperforming boys in English, Urdu\/Sindhi and Mathematics, with Grade 8 girls excelling in Science and Mathematics. He explained that compiling such data helps pinpoint systemic barriers and strengthen evidence-based policy decisions.<\/p>\n
The report also flags critical shortfalls: only 23% of schools have ramps for students with disabilities and even fewer provide specialised teaching materials or assistive devices. Teacher capacity is a concern, with just 23% of teachers in girls\u2019 schools receiving foundational training. Digital access remains limited, with only 19% of schools equipped with devices, while population pressure has reduced the number of schools per 1,000 children.<\/p>\n
Budgetary constraints further limit progress. The share of the national budget allocated to education has fallen from 13% to 11%, and 94% of education spending goes to salaries, leaving little for development. The report estimates 26.2 million children out of school, including 13.4 million girls. Although female enrolment in higher education is nearing parity, women\u2019s participation in the workforce is only 24%, highlighting a major loss of human capital. Education experts at the launch urged increased budgetary commitment, modernised teacher training and nationwide expansion of digital facilities to sustain gains and remove obstacles to girls education.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Girls education report finds 89% primary completion and 96% permanent school buildings; urges budget, teacher training and digital access expansion.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":17260,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[94],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17261","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pakistan"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17261","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17261"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17261\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17260"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17261"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17261"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17261"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}