News Desk
Pakistan is clawing its way back from an economic slump that hit hard in 2019-20. Growth is ticking up, inflation’s cooling off, and the trade deficit’s shrinking—a flicker of hope after years of struggle. But if you ask Ahsan Iqbal, the country’s federal minister for planning, development, and special initiatives, the real test isn’t just in the numbers. It’s in the classrooms.
Writing in The News on March 5, 2025, Iqbal laid out a stark case: Pakistan’s future hinges on education, and right now, it’s failing miserably.
The stats are grim. More than 25 million kids aged 5 to 16 are out of school—one of the highest out-of-school populations in the world, according to the 2023 Population Census.
- Three-quarters of 10-year-olds can’t read a simple text.
- The national literacy rate hovers at 59.3%, a good 15 points below the South Asian average of 74%.
- Compare that to Bangladesh, where 73% of kids finish lower secondary school, while Pakistan scrapes by with 51%.
- India’s pushing ahead with digital learning and literacy drives, and even war-torn Afghanistan was spending more on education as a share of its economy before its collapse.
- Pakistan? It’s stuck at 2.51% of GDP in 2019, per World Bank data—though Iqbal pegs it lower, at 1.7% in his piece, a drop from 2.02% in 2018.
That’s not just a national embarrassment; it’s an economic time bomb. South Asia’s spending about 3.7% of GDP on education on average—think Bhutan at 6.6% or Nepal at 5.1%—while Pakistan lags behind all but Bangladesh, which hovers around 2–2.5%. Zoom out to the 57-member Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), and it’s the same story.
Malaysia’s at 5%, Saudi Arabia’s at 5.1%, even Indonesia’s at 3.5%. The OIC average likely sits between 3.5–4%, leaving Pakistan near the bottom with countries like Nigeria, where spending barely cracks 2%.
UNESCO says 4% should be the minimum; South Korea and Malaysia, poster children for knowledge economies, hit 5–7%. Pakistan’s nowhere close.
Iqbal knows this. In his The News article, “Prioritising Education for Economic Development,” he doesn’t sugarcoat it: “Without a strong education system, Pakistan will struggle to compete in the global knowledge economy.” He’s pushing URAAN Pakistan, a reform plan with big ideas—revamping curriculums for STEM and critical thinking, building a fancy teacher training center, rolling out digital tools for kids.
There’s even a new audit framework to whip universities into shape, focusing on jobs and global rankings. It’s ambitious, and Iqbal’s begging everyone—private sector, tech firms, expats—to chip in.
But here’s the rub: money. Pakistan’s education budget’s been sliding for years—down from 3.02% of GDP in 1997 to that measly 1.7% Iqbal cites. Doubling it to 4%, as he wants, sounds nice, but where’s the cash coming from?
The government’s District Education Performance Index (DEPIx) scores districts at a dismal 53 out of 100, showing gaps in schools, teachers, and results. More spending doesn’t always mean better outcomes—some provinces blow their budgets and still churn out kids who can’t read—but starving the system isn’t working either.
Look at the neighbors. India’s at 4.64% of GDP and climbing, Bangladesh is holding steady, and Bhutan’s throwing 6.6% at its kids. In the OIC, Uzbekistan’s at 6%, Turkey’s at 4.4%. These aren’t just numbers—they’re investments paying off in literate, skilled workers who drive growth. Pakistan’s betting on its youth, but with 79% of 10-year-olds illiterate and millions not even in school, it’s a gamble it’s losing.
Iqbal’s right about one thing: this is a “national call to action.” His Champions of Reform network sounds like a brainstorming club for smart folks—educators, policymakers, innovators—to fix this mess. But Pakistan’s at a crossroads, as he puts it. Keep limping along, or go big. The clock’s ticking, and the kids can’t wait.
Pakistan data taken from: Ahsan Iqbal, “Prioritising Education for Economic Development,” The News, March 5, 2025.
