Education in Pakistan suffers from a chronic lack of spending in the education sector. However, the more alarming issue is the inefficient use of allocated funds with high proportions remaining unspent and those that are spent contributing little to good quality education. With the recent devolution of education from a federal to a provincial subject, it remains to be seen how the provinces tackle the problems of the education sector.
While these public sector problems fester, there remain 5.1 million Pakistani children of primary school age who are out of school. This is the second highest in the world and is over twice as many as in India. Of the poorest 20%, a tragic 2 in 3 girls do not go to school; one of the worst gender inequalities in the world.
The ones that make it to school suffer from the incapacity of the government to administer adequate education. Our task is daunting. CARE adopts government schools and takes over operational control while investing in infrastructure improvements. Even though we do not have the largest budget, we educate the most children of any NGO in Pakistan while meeting rigorous standards of academic excellence.