Increased Number of children deprived of education in Punjab

In rural areas of Punjab, 14% of school-aged children are not enrolled in classes, with an increase from 5% to 9% in 2019. In rural areas, for the first time, the number of out-of-school boys (8%) has overtaken the number of out-of-school girls (6%) by 2%.

"In Punjab's rural districts, about 6% of girls and 8% of boys are out of school," according to the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) Punjab Rural 2021. In public schools, however, children's learning levels improved, particularly among fifth graders.

On Tuesday, the ASER Punjab Rural- 2021 report, the largest yearly citizen-led household survey, was released. It asks for immediate action to be made in order to stop the long-term devaluation of Punjab's social capital.

Idara-e-Taleem-o-Aagahi's programme is ASER Pakistan (ITA). In Punjab, data was collected from 35 districts, 20,062 households, 1,018 villages, and 51,067 children aged three to sixteen years (54 percent males, 46 percent females).

A total of 44,670 students between the ages of 5 and 16 gave their exams for grade 2 language and mathematics skills. In 2021, 14 percent of children in Punjab were estimated to be out of school, from 5% in 2019 (nine percent); there is a growth in out-of-school children (OOSC) across Pakistan during Covid.

According to the OOSC, 6% of children in Punjab were never enrolled in school and 8% dropped out. This necessitates the immediate implementation of second-chance accelerated and bridge programs in both non-formal education and mainstreamed SED schools in the afternoon/morning shifts.

According to the survey, learning deficits are becoming more common across Pakistan, notably in Punjab, where only 68 percent of class 5 children could read a class 2 level narrative in Urdu in 2018, compared to 75 percent in 2019.

In class 5, English learning levels improved marginally, with 73% of children able to read English sentences (class 2 level) compared to 71% in 2019. 69% of class 5 students could divide by two digits in 2018, rising to 82% in 2019.

This necessitates learning continuity with outcome-oriented programs based on hybrid/ICT initiatives. In Urdu (7% difference) and arithmetic, children enrolled in private schools outperform their government peers (5% gap).

The gender gap in learning persists, with boys (ages 5-16) outperforming girls in literacy and numeracy skills. 54% of boys and 51% of girls can read at least a few phrases in Urdu. Boys were able to read at least English words in 58 percent of cases, while girls were able to do so in 56% of cases.

Similarly, 53% of boys can accomplish at least subtraction, although just 52% of girls can. In the assessed government schools, 22% of teachers have completed their education, compared to 37% of teachers in the studied private schools.