An Analysis of the Factors Impacting Literacy Rate in Pakistan

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of the factors contributing to the low literacy rate in Pakistan. It begins with an introduction highlighting the significance of literacy in social development and the current low literacy rate of Pakistan compared to global standards. The report employs the Fish Bone Analysis tool to explore various factors influencing literacy, including economic, political, institutional, and social aspects. Economic factors such as financial instability, poverty, and low government spending on education are discussed in detail, along with their impact on access to education. Political factors, including the influence of feudal lords and the impact of political instability on education policies, are also examined. Furthermore, the report delves into institutional factors like the effectiveness of education policies and the allocation of resources. Social factors, such as gender inequality and cultural limitations, are also explored as significant contributors to low literacy rates. The report includes a critical evaluation of the Fish Bone Analysis, providing a nuanced perspective on the complex interplay of these factors. Finally, the report concludes with recommendations for improving the literacy rate in Pakistan, offering potential solutions to address the identified challenges.

Causes of Low Literacy Rate in Pakistan
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List of Abbreviations
PILDAT Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development and Transparency
EFA Education for All
PSLM Pakistan Social and Living Standards Measurement
GNP Gross national Product
GDP Gross Domestic Product
UNISCEF United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund
UNESCO United Nations’ Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
EDI EFA Development Index
FFA Force field analysis
SWOT Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats
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Contents
Introduction.................................................................................................................................. 4
Fish Bone Tool............................................................................................................................ 4
Factors impacting literacy Rate in Pakistan.................................................................................5
Economic Factors:................................................................................................................... 8
Political Factors:....................................................................................................................... 9
Institutional Factors:............................................................................................................... 11
Social Factors........................................................................................................................ 12
Critical evaluation of fish bone analysis.....................................................................................15
Conclusion................................................................................................................................. 16
Recommendations..................................................................................................................... 17
References................................................................................................................................ 20
Appendix.................................................................................................................................... 23
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Introduction
Literacy is an important parameter of analyzing the social development of a country.
The literacy rate of a country is also associated with the social problems such as
political unawareness, crime rate and terrorism. The literacy rate of Pakistan is very low
as compared to the standards. Global Literacy rankings were released in October 2012
in which Pakistan was ranked 113 among 120 countries regarding literacy rate
(Business Recorder, 2012). Pakistan is lagging behind in terms of literacy rate. The
current literacy rate of Pakistan is 58% (Express Tribune, 2012). A lot of work is needed
to be done for improving the literacy rate in Pakistan. The current aim of Pakistan is to
take literacy rate to 60% till 2015 (Business Recorder, 2012). Current expenses of
government on education are very low. Currently, Pakistan spends 2.3% of GNP on
education in comparison to 4.5% expenses of GNP of India on education (Business
Recorder, 2012). Therefore, Pakistan is far behind in its education expenditure target
and needs to do a lot of work for increasing literacy rate.
Fish Bone Tool
The aim of the project is to evaluate the factors that influence the literacy rate in
Pakistan. In more specific terms, the project is aimed to explore the factors that play
their role in the low literacy rate in Pakistan. This project will be aimed at discovering all
factors through Fish Bone Analysis tool. The Fish Bone Analysis tool is elaborated by
(Gary et al., 2009).
The Fish Bone Analysis Tool will be effective for discussing the causes of low literacy
rate in Pakistan. Through this tool, all causes and their subcategories will be studied
and their effect on the literacy rate of Pakistan will be found. Through this tool, general
factors of low literacy rate will be highlighted, in the first step. These categories may
include people, machines, measurement, materials, methods, environment, policies,
etc. After this, important categories from Pakistan’s perspective will be marked. All
possible causes will be evaluated through qualitative and quantitative research tools.
These causes of low literacy rate in Pakistan will be analyzed through existing studies
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as well as through survey approach. Finally, the results will be deduced to highlight the
cause of low literacy rate of Pakistan.
Factors impacting literacy Rate in Pakistan
The literacy rate of a country is determined by many factors. Pakistan has been at the
bottom line of the literacy rate in comparison with the literacy rate of neighboring
countries. The human development index of South Asian countries for 2012 has shown
that the literacy rate of Pakistan is not satisfactory in comparison with all other South
Asian Countries. Even in comparison with Bangladesh, data for Pakistan shows that a
high percentage of children are not going to school. In the following table, all indicators
regarding education have been elaborated here:
Pakistan: Key education indicators compared to other South Asian countries
Country Net primary
Enrollment % age
2008-2009t
Primary
(%) (2008-09)
Children reaching
Grade 5 (%)
Percentage of grade
1 students
(2006-10)92
Children not
In primary school
(million)
2008-11
India 92 68.5 2.27
Pakistan 74 61.5 5.12
Bangladesh 86 66.2 1.83
Nepal - 61.7 -
Sri Lanka 94 98.6 0.102
Bhutan 88 95.5 0.111
Maldives 96 - 0.011
Source: Human Development Index for South Asia 2012
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There wide range of factors that contribute towards the low literacy rate of Pakistan.
However, low literacy rate of Pakistan is contributed to two major factors (Hashmi and
Zafer, 2009):
 Economic factors
 Social Factors
Economic factors are the major cause of low literacy rate of Pakistan. Economic factors
not only affect the ability of government to provide effective educational policies but also
impact the individual’s power to get proper education. Limited financial resources lower
the ability of government to develop educational institutes across the country. At the
same time, less household income of people in Pakistan lowers the ability of parents to
deliver education to their children.
In Pakistan, the majority of the population lives in villages and rural areas where people
do not have much exposure to the emerging trends and the importance of education. In
rural areas, people do not focus on getting educated. Moreover, half of the population of
Pakistan is composed of women who do not provide education in rural areas because of
social and cultural limitations. Such a big percentage of the population does not give
attention for education which makes it another big reason of low literacy rate of a
country.
The above mentioned factors are a major cause of low literacy rate of Pakistan. There
are many sub factors behind this issue such as government policies, corruption and
ineffective implementation of policies.
Low literacy rates in Pakistan can be contributed to many factors. The major factors that
impact the low literacy rate of Pakistan are as follows:
 Economic Factors
 Political Factors
 Institutional Factors
 Social Factors
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Although the literacy rate in Pakistan has grown gradually but this growth is very low.
Because of many political, social and financial factors, Pakistan has not achieved a high
literacy rate despite of increasing financial support from many international institutions
like the World Bank. In 2007-2008, the literacy rate in Pakistan was 57%. At the
provincial level, literacy rate in Pakistan during 2007-08 is distributed as follows:
Sindh 59%
Punjab 59%
Baluchistan 45%
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 50%
Source: PSML, 2008-2009
This literacy rate was very low in comparison with the world trends. With the financial
assistance of the government and World Bank, the literacy rate in Pakistan has
improved in the time period of 2010-2011. However, the increase in literacy rate is
marginal in comparison with the investment. In 2010-2011, the literacy rate of Pakistan
on provincial levels is as follows:
Sindh 59%
Punjab 60%
Baluchistan 41%
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 50%
Source: PSML, 2010-2011
In comparison with the previous year’s literacy rate, Punjab has shown only 1%
increase in literacy rates. On the other hand, Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have
shown the stable literacy rate whereas in Baluchistan, the literacy rate has decreased
by 4%. The main reason behind the decrease in a literacy rate of Baluchistan is the
security situation. Because of vulnerable security issues in Baluchistan and tribal areas,
education promotional programs have not been started in these areas that contributed
to low literacy rate. In the following lines, all factors that contribute to the low literacy
rate of Pakistan are as follows:
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Economic Factors:
The most important factor that contributes to the low literacy rate of Pakistan is
economic instability of the country. Pakistan is an underdeveloped country where 38%
people live below the poverty line. This population does not have resources for food and
living. Therefore, parents from this population segment do not have resources to
provide education to their children. Pakistan is one of those countries that spend less
than 2% of their GDP on education sector. In Pakistan, almost 17.6% children work
instead of getting education so that they can support their families. In this regard, the
role of government is miserable. The economic burden on the people makes their
children a part of child labor. Financial pressure on individuals and organizations may
impact the higher education rate in the Pakistan (Furlong et al., 2000). In this way,
financial pressures may also affect the investment processes that are carried by the
state. The enrollment of students in courses and nature of the study is also impacted by
financial pressures (Tisber, 1995). In Pakistan, per capita formula is used for providing
salaries to teachers. Therefore, many people do not adopt this profession despite
having the potential of becoming efficient teachers.
The allocation of budget for teachers education and training is insufficient that cannot
meet dynamic requirements of providing quality education to teachers. At present, only
2.3 percent of GNP is allocated to education system of Pakistan (Mahrukh, 2012). This
education policy suggests that inadequate funds are allocated for teachers’ training in
order to utilize their potential to full capacity. For several decades, this budget allocation
for education is prevailing in Pakistan. However, funding is generated for improving the
education system of Pakistan and to enhance literacy rate. The whole education sector
is not coordinated in an effective way. Moreover, the education issues overlap each
other and impact the education priorities in a bad way. The funding generated through
foreign aid is not used effectively by the policy makers. In the recent year, Punjab
government attained loan of $300 from World Bank for improving education policy and
increasing student enrollment and participation (Shahbaz, 2011). However, this loan
was not used effectively by the government and only 1% literacy rate has been
improved in Punjab. Therefore, the financial burden has affected the effectiveness of
the government to increase the literacy rate in Pakistan.
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The spending of the Federal government on education is very low in Pakistan
contributing to low literacy rate. For many years, the federal government is spending a
minor part of GDP on the education system. In the following table, expenditures of the
federal government of Pakistan for education system have been summarized for the
year 2011/12:
Federal Government’s Education Budget 2011/12
2010/11 2011/12
Budget Revised Budget
Total Expenditure on Education (Rs Million 176521 163724 195763
Current Expenditure 105608 112787 119470
Development Expenditure 70913 50937 76293
Education as a Percent of Total Expenditure 5% 4% 5%
Current Expenditure 4% 4% 4%
Development Expenditure 8% 7% 9%
Source: Budget Documents 2011/12
The above table suggests that the budget allocation for education is very small in
Pakistan in comparison with the 12% budget allocation of Bangladesh for education, in
2012 (News Today, 2012). In terms of expenditures, Pakistan spends only 5% of budget
which is less than half in comparison with allocation of budget of Bangladesh. The
expenditures on education are not actually expenditures rather they are regarded as
investment. The government must increase this life time investment to achieve high
returns in future. At present, allocation of budget for the education system of Pakistan is
not sufficient to improve the deficiencies in the system that is deeply rooted in it for
many years.
Political Factors:
Political forces are responsible for devising policies for educational system of a country.
The political system of Pakistan is controlled by feudal lords. In the achievement of high
literacy rates, feudal system is the major obstacle. It has been shown by statistics that
gender equality is highly disturbing in Pakistan (Mahrukh, 2012). In the rural areas,
feudal system does not allow education of women. The feudal lords enjoy the power of
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political systems and deprive people from education so that they may not get
awareness about their rights. The political environment of the country is the factor that
can influence the formation of effective education policy of a country. In addition to this,
political system can also influence the experiences and shape of education policies of
Pakistan (Mahrukh, 2012). This is because; decisions regarding education policy are
taken by the political parties who do not show concern for the betterment of people. The
education sector in Pakistan has been controlled by provincial government. The 18th
amendment in the constitution has given right to the provinces to make education
policies for their own provinces. In addition to this, provinces are also given the right to
get the loan and financial assistance from the international financial institutions (Shami,
2005). In this way, provinces are given a free hand to take finances and use them.
Under this amendment, the provinces have taken big packages of financial assistance
from the World Bank in the name of the education system. However, they have not
taken effective systems for utilizing these funds in the effective way; the funds taken
from these institutions are wasted by the provincial governments on ineffective policies
that did not improve literacy rate. This is evident from the statistics on literacy rates of
2008 and 2011. Although financial problems of the government in education sector have
been shared by the World Bank however, ineffective policies, political influences and
corruption have not helped the education sector to achieve its aims and objectives.
In addition to this, the provincial governments have also impacted the quality of
education system in Pakistan. The recruitment policies, curriculum design, transfers and
postings of teachers are also influenced by interventions of political parties. In the rural
areas, political powers have a high influence on appointment and transfers of teachers.
In the far off rural areas of Pakistan, there are many schools that are working, according
to government records. However, in reality, these are just ghost schools because the
political powers in these rural areas do not allow the teachers to carry on their
profession. The highest percentage of these ghost schools in Pakistan is also
contributing to low literacy rate.
There are many political regimes that are affecting the efficiency of political systems in
the country. It has been criticized by Shami (2005) that educational policies of Pakistan
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are also influenced by regimes. He is of the view that since inception, Pakistan has
gone through many military and democratic regimes that have influenced the
educational policies. The plans and policies of education are affected by the instability
of the political system. Discontinuity of educational policies has affected the growth of
the education system of Pakistan. A particular government makes policies of education
for a particular time period, before the completion of this time period, the other
government comes and implements a new education policy. Shuffling of education
policies every year has contributed in the failure of education system to ensure
consistent achievement of its aims and objectives. In this way, the proposed literacy
rate cannot be achieved through this political system.
Institutional Factors
Institutional causes are also impacting the education policies of Pakistan and impacting
low literacy rate in Pakistan. It has been found by Tatto (2006) that institutions and
organizations tend to have their own systems and structures. The administration and
policies of this system effect polices of the government regarding effectiveness of
education policies. At the provincial level, government controls the institutions.
However, the transparency is not gained regarding achievement of targets posed by the
government. Moreover, the institutions are not given in confidence regarding overall
education targets of the government. In this way, the policies of government and
educational instructions do not align and contribute towards the low literacy rate in
Pakistan.
The structure of public education system of Pakistan is also an important reason behind
the low literacy rate in Pakistan. The characteristics of public education system of
Pakistan include: 1) basic education system which consists of pre-primary education for
children from age of 3 to 5 years, 2) primary education which starts from the age of 5
years and is completed at the age of 9 years, 3) secondary level which consists of five
years of education from the age of 10 years and ends on 14 years of age 4) tertiary
level which starts at the end of secondary education, 5) Higher education which starts
after higher secondary education and consists of a system of technological colleges,
medical and engineering universities etc. The allocation of funds of all these categories
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of education system is not effective in Pakistan which contributes in the low literacy rate
of Pakistan.
Education facilities also play an important role in improving the gross enrollment in
schools. If appropriate facilities are provided by the government for basic education,
higher enrollment rates can be gained. On the other hand, the inefficiency of
government regarding provision of school facilities can result in low literacy rates. A
research was conducted by UNISCEF in 2006 by Lynd (2006) for evaluating the
education system in Pakistan. The research found that many schools in Pakistan did not
have effective teaching environment. It was also found that because of unavailability of
teaching facilities, teachers avoid going to rural areas to continue their jobs. In terms of
statistics, it was found that 9% of primary schools did not have the facility of blackboard.
In addition to this, 24% of schools did not have textbooks for students and 46% schools
did not have desks for students (Lynd, 2006). On the other hand, condition of private
schools is quite better in Pakistan. Overall, it was revealed that almost a quarter of
primary schools did not have basic facilities for teaching (Lynd, 2006). Therefore, in
such conditions, improvement in literacy rates is very difficult. Regarding facility of
electricity, private schools were in a good position in comparison with public schools. It
was found that 79% middle elementary schools had a facility of electricity and only 36%
public primary schools had the facility of electricity (Lynd, 2006). These statistics are
quite alarming stating that their improvement in school facilities is highly required to
persuade parents in rural areas to send their children to schools for getting educated.
Social Factors
In Pakistan, an important factor regarding low literacy rate in Pakistan is social
influence. In the rural areas of Pakistan, education of females does not give high
importance. They are not given right to get an education. In terms of statistics, 70% of
the population of Pakistan lives in rural areas. In addition to this, 51% population of
Pakistan is composed of women (Shami, 2005). A considerable percentage of
population of women in Pakistan is not given right to get education on fair basis
because of social and cultural influences (Sabir, 2003). Therefore, high gender disparity
of Pakistan is also posing its contribution towards low literacy rate in Pakistan.
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