Education is a loaded term in Pakistan. It is dreams unrealized. It is children walking miles to simply sit in a classroom. It’s mothers hoping their daughters receive opportunities they never did. It’s fathers working double time simply so that they can afford a uniform or a book.
At Taleem Foundation, we recognize that education is the start of everything — better health, better income, better decisions, and above all, dignity. But here’s the hard truth: for millions of Pakistanis, basic literacy remains a distant dream. And that’s not for a lack of potential. It’s because we’ve been missing policies that consistently put people first.
So let’s talk openly and honestly about what government policy has really done so far in our country’s struggle with literacy — and what needs to change if we’re going to break this cycle once and for all.
The Promise of Education vs. The Reality on the Ground
If you read any government report, education is apparently a top priority. It’s in our constitution. It’s emphasized in national plans. There’s always some new “initiative” or vision. But visit a rural village — or even urban slums — and the reality is painfully different.
- Children are sharing broken benches in classrooms with no electricity.
Schools with no teachers. - Girls are dropping out of school at age 11 because schools are too far away or simply not safe.
- Leaky roofs. No books. Untrained teachers.
This is not a lack of talent. This is a disconnect between policy and practice.
Why Are Our Literacy Rates Still So Low?
The truth is, literacy in Pakistan is not just an education issue. It’s a policy issue. It’s a priority issue. And it’s a political issue.
The literacy rate of Pakistan stands at 58–60%, and is even lower for females and rural areas. That means nearly half of the population can’t read and write well enough to fill out a form, read the label on a medicine bottle, or help a child with homework.
Here’s where the government policy plays such a vital role in all of this:
1. Not Enough Money Where It Matters
Year after year, Pakistan’s education budget is stuck at 2% of GDP — one of the lowest in the region. For comparison, neighboring countries such as Bangladesh and Nepal are spending more and achieving more.
Inadequate funding trickles down fast:
- Fewer schools
- Inadequately trained, underpaid teachers
- No proper facilities
- No modern materials
It’s not enough to say “education is important.” We must budget for it as it is.
2. Big Promises, Weak Follow-Through
We’ve had so many national education policies: Vision 2025, the National Education Policy, 5-year plans — all with wonderful words and numbers. But the truth is, implementation has always been the weakest link.
Too often, things fall apart between Islamabad and a classroom in rural Balochistan. Budgets get delayed. Teachers go unpaid. Projects disappear quietly.
And so, another generation misses out.
3. One Country, Many Systems — Unequal Outcomes
After the 18th Amendment, education was devolved to the provinces. While this added control to the local governments, it also created a muddled mishmash of priorities.
Some provinces, like Punjab, have used technology to track school attendance or encourage digital learning. Others have not even set up basic teacher training. This imbalance does damage to exactly those children who already face the tallest barriers.
There is no reason a child in Karachi should receive fundamentally different education from a child in Kohlu, other than policy failure.
4. Gender Still Determines Who Gets to Learn
Even now, a girl’s chances at literacy depend largely upon where she is born. In some places, girls are informed that school is not for them. Others simply have no schools nearby or no female teachers — a dealbreaker for many families.
While programs like Waseela-e-Taleem or conditional cash transfers have tried to help, they’re not enough on their own. What’s needed is real political will to protect and prioritize girls’ education, not just support it on paper.
5. Emergencies Don’t Wait — and We’re Never Ready
When COVID-19 hit, schools shut down overnight. And in most locations, learning came to a screeching stop. No contingency plans. No access online. Just silence. The same with floods. Or earthquakes. Every time disaster hits, children fall further behind.
We still don’t have a strong national plan for education in crises, and poor families suffer.
What Needs to Change?
There is no silver bullet, we believe, at Taleem Foundation. But there is a path forward, if we are brave enough to pursue it.
Here is what it could be like:
- Invest more in education, not in speeches, but in rupees.
- Invest in teacher support and training, especially in rural areas.
- Create mechanisms to protect the right of girls to learn, no matter where they are.
- Enforce true accountability, so policies don’t remain in files.
- Embrace digital learning and innovation, especially in rural regions.
- Design emergency-ready systems so kids don’t miss school every time a crisis hits.
Education Is the Answer — But Only If Policy Shows Up
Pakistan has no shortage of talent, passion, or intelligence. What we’re short on is fair, inclusive, and serious education policy that sticks, not for one election cycle, but for decades.
And the time to fix this is not sometime in the future. It is now.
Every year we delay, we lose another generation of thinkers, doctors, educators, engineers, dreamers — kids who could change the world if only given the chance to learn.
At Taleem Foundation, We’re Not Waiting
We’re not waiting for the system to fix itself. We’re building schools where there were none. We’re training teachers where others won’t go. We’re empowering girls who are told to stay home. And we’re working with communities who believe that literacy changes everything — because it does.
But we cannot do it alone.
You Can Help Too
Support Taleem Foundation. Struggle for good education policies. Talk about literacy. Ask questions. Vote for people who put schools ahead of politics.
Because this isn’t just a question of numbers. This is a question of lives. And Pakistan’s future hangs in the balance of what we do now.
