Chasing Education for all goals: Evidence from Sindh Province of Pakistan

Abstract

Pakistan was placed at 141st position (out of 182 countries) in terms of Human Development Index (HDI) (HDR 2009). The Government of Pakistan claims that situation is improving, but the state of education especially for children in rural areas of Pakistan is alarming. There is lack of educational facilities in the rural areas and there are higher gender disparities in education. Pakistan is one of the countries where equal distribution of resources and proper administrative support remains a big question to ensure the proper utilization of budgets that directly or indirectly benefit poor communities and their vulnerable children. Incidence of corruption in education systems of the country is believed to be high and corruption as an impediment to the effective delivery of education services is considered one of the key factors affecting deliverance and quality education. The level of corruption has not only been institutionalized but has entrenched into the behaviors of people resulting in absenteeism, acceptance of bribes in exchange for grades / or access to schooling, and the charging fees for students’ access to textbooks and the utilization of school property for private commercial purposes. The analysis of primary and secondary data shows that the performance of the Government Education Department in the Sindh province is very poor. The overall situation of education service delivery is alarming. The analysis of primary and secondary data presents the picture of poor performance of education deliverables in Sindh. Mismanagement and poor governance are evident in education department. There are also large number of closed or partially functional schools and schools with poor infrastructure can be observed with lack of basic facilities. The presence of 4As i.e.  Availability, Accessibility, Adaptability and Accountability of educational services needs immediate attention. The analysis of primary data shows that there are huge flaws in the management of education services in the Sindh province. The overall situation of education in the province is alarming. There is large number of children, especially in the rural areas who remain out of schools. There is greater gender disparity in education at all levels. The proper and efficient monitoring and supervision is almost absent and there is lack of proper physical infrastructure and basic facilities in schools. The inefficiency of education system causes the vulnerable and weak segments of society excluded from educational attainments. Thus pushing millions of poor to abject poverty.