ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Pakistan’s latest official household survey estimates roughly 20 million children are out of school, even as public education spending has slipped to a record-low 0.8 percent of gross domestic product, deepening the Pakistan education crisis, Jan. 4, 2026.
The gap is most visible in poorer districts where families cite costs, safety concerns and weak school infrastructure, while provincial systems struggle to keep teachers in classrooms and children enrolled beyond primary grades.
Pakistan education crisis worsens in the numbers
The Pakistan Bureau of Statistics’ Household Integrated Economic Survey 2024–25 reports a national literacy rate of 63 percent (for ages 10 and above), up from 60 percent in 2018–19, but it also puts the out-of-school rate at 28 percent for children ages 5 to 16.
Provincial disparities remain stark. The survey shows Punjab with the lowest out-of-school share, while Sindh and Balochistan post much higher rates, underscoring how geography and poverty continue to shape who reaches a classroom and who does not.
One widely shared reading of the findings came through reporting that framed the 28 percent out-of-school rate as about 20 million children nationwide, a figure that has fueled renewed debate over how Pakistan funds and manages schooling. The Express Tribune’s coverage of the survey results described the number as a headline indicator of the scale of the Pakistan education crisis.
Spending at 0.8% of GDP collides with global benchmarks
International targets have long been clear. UNESCO says governments committed to allocate at least 4 to 6 percent of GDP to education in the 2015 Incheon Declaration. UNESCO’s education financing explainer notes that benchmark as a minimum for building resilient public systems.
Pakistan is moving in the opposite direction, with education spending widely cited at around 0.8 percent of GDP. UNICEF’s country overview warns that such chronic underinvestment is dragging down enrollment and learning outcomes. UNICEF Pakistan’s education page describes the latest level as a record low that falls far short of national goals and international commitments.
Save the Children, which has worked in Pakistan for decades, tied the spending slide to the scale of exclusion. In a 2025 statement on education spending, the organization quoted its Pakistan director as warning that spending “less than 1% of GDP” on education undercuts promises to treat schooling as a national emergency.
A long-running story of pledges, setbacks and shocks
Pakistan’s education funding debate is not new. A 2015 Dawn report described a government commitment, announced internationally, to lift education spending to 4 percent of GDP by 2018 — a target that never materialized.
Even before today’s record-low levels, investment was uneven. A 2022 Dawn story put education spending at 1.77 percent of GDP at the time, illustrating how the system has struggled for years to reach even modest benchmarks.
Climate disasters have also repeatedly knocked children out of school. After the 2022 floods, UNICEF said nearly 27,000 schools were damaged or destroyed and more than 2 million children faced inaccessible classrooms. UNICEF’s 2022 flood impact update warned that prolonged closures can turn temporary disruption into permanent dropout — especially for girls.
With the HIES 2024–25 placing literacy at 63 percent but still counting millions of children outside the school system, education advocates say the next test will be whether upcoming federal and provincial budgets reverse the slide — or entrench the Pakistan education crisis for another generation.
