Pakistan First From Bottom

Pakistan ranked last out of 14 countries in Asia-Pacific in an investigation into developing countries’ commitment to basic education according to a report prepared jointly by the Asian South Pacific Bureau of Adult Education and the Global Campaign for Education.

Countries were graded and ranked based on their performance on: Complete basic education; state action on free education; quality inputs; gender equality and overall equity — to depict their commitment to basic education.
2 out of 3 Pakistani adults are illiterate, with the same proportion of secondary school age children out of school; 4 out of 10 children are missing primary school; girls and women constitute majority of those who are denied access to complete basic education.
Remarks’ section for President General Pervez Musharraf reads, “Pervez spends less per pupil than most of his South Asian neighbours and charges user fees in full. The ‘Teacher’s such low spending can only deliver pitiable results. In all aspects, there is clearly little quality and state action and commitment in the public education Pervez offers, given the spending and the charges. This puts him at the bottom of the class too.

The report also states: 45.3 % have no access to early childhood care and education; 40.3 % to primary school, and 76.1 % to secondary school. The level of adult illiteracy in Pakistan, at 58.9 % is, 1 of the 3 highest among the 14 countries ranked in the report.
On the scale of 14, Thailand is 1st. 2nd is Malaysia, 3rd Sri Lanka, 4th Philippines, 5th China, 6th Vietnam, 7th Bangladesh, 8th Cambodia, 9th India, 10th Indonesia, 11th Nepal, 12th Papua New Guinea, 13th Solomon Islands and Pakistan is 14th.

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