Nationwide education statistics show mixed trends

Pakistan’s education sector has witnessed mixed trends in enrollment and institutional development across various levels of education during the fiscal year 2023, with projections for FY 2024 indicating modest shifts in enrollment patterns.

According to the Economic Survey 2024-25 released on Monday, pre-primary education enrollment saw a decline of 3.3 percent, dropping from 12.16 million in FY 2022 to 11.77 million in FY 2023. The downward trend is expected to continue slightly in FY 2024, with projections estimating enrollment at 11.6 million.

Conversely, primary education saw a growth of 3.2 percent, as enrollment rose to 24.61 million in FY 2023 from 23.85 million in FY 2022. An increase to approximately 24.83 million is forecast for FY 2024. The country reported 168,240 functional primary schools with over 506,000 teachers.

However, middle-level education showed a significant 7.6 percent increase in enrollment, rising from 8.77 million in FY 2022 to 9.43 million in FY 2023. This upward trend is expected to continue, reaching 9.88 million in FY 2024. Pakistan has over 51,000 middle schools staffed by more than 511,000 teachers.

Secondary education (Classes IX-X) also experienced a 5 percent enrollment boost, reaching 4.72 million students in FY 2023. An additional 3.8% increase is projected for FY 2024. A total of 39,400 secondary schools with 733,400 teachers were operational in the reported period.

Meanwhile, enrolment at the higher secondary level (Classes XI-XII) grew by 8.8 percent, from 2.15 million in FY 2022 to 2.33 million in FY 2023. Projections for FY 2024 suggest a modest increase to 2.38 million. There were 9,000 higher secondary schools employing nearly 197,000 teachers nationwide.

In contrast, degree colleges saw a slight decline in enrollment, from 0.66 million in FY 2023 to an estimated 0.65 million in FY 2024. The number of institutions is also expected to decrease marginally from 2,573 to 2,516, with a slight drop in teachers from 60,130 to 59,840.

The most notable decline occurred in the university sector, where enrollment dropped by 13 percent in FY 2023 to 1.94 million students. However, a small recovery of 0.8 percent is expected in FY 2024, with enrollment projected at 1.95 million. The number of universities stood at 269.

The technical and vocational institutes recorded a minor increase in enrollment, from 0.44 million in FY 2022 to 0.45 million in FY 2023. This number is expected to grow to 0.46 million in FY 2024. The sector includes 4,563 institutions staffed by over 51,000 teachers.