Dropping out of State Schools: A National Problem in

The problem of school dropout is serious in Pakistan. The country has a comparatively high rate at international level (Sawada, 1997). This phenomenon is visible at all stages; however, this varies from class to class and year to year up to elementary education but has been consistent for secondary schooling for the last three years. The following table shows total enrolments and retention rates up to class 10in the years 2011, 2012 and 2013.

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Table 2.4 Yearly Total Enrolment in Class 1 and Percentage of Retention up to Class 10 Enrolment

years Total enrolment in Class 1 Percentage of retention until primary level (Class 5) Retention

years Percentage of retention until elementary level (Class 8)

Retention

years Percentage of retention until secondary level (Class 10) Retention years 1999-2000 2678433 57 2003-04 39 2006-07 27 2008-09 2000-01 2765058 58 2004-05 39 2007-08 27 2009-10 2001-02 2687703 63 2005-06 40 2008-09 27 2010-11 Source: AEPAM, 2011; 2012; 2013

From 1999-2000, the total enrolment in class 1 was 2,678,433, but by 2008-9 only 27 percent of them had stayed in education until class 10 (AEPAM, 2011, p. 31). Similarly, in 2000-1, 2,765,058 children enrolled in class 1 and by 2009-10 only 27 percent had reached class 10 (AEPAM, 2012, p. 21). From 2001-2, the total enrolment in class 1 was 2,687,703 but by 2010-11only 27 percent had gone on to class 10, so 63 percent of children had dropped out before completing their secondary education (AEPAM, 2013, p. 91). Thus, by 2013 only 27 percent of the total enrolment had stayed enrolled up to class 10. These are alarming figures for the government and policymakers. Low educational rates demand effective policy interventions to address the dropout problem in Pakistan. Firstly, it is vital to understand dropout trends at different schooling stages and then design policy measures accordingly. Policies to prevent school dropout at primary level may not apply to the elementary or secondary students and vice versa. Secondly, without closely monitoring class dropout tendencies, we cannot apprehend the problem according to age group and schooling stage. Table 2.5 shows the total enrolment and detail of dropout class to class and year to year from 2001-2 to 2010-11 in Pakistan.

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Table 2.5 Percentage of Retention Rate Class to Class and Year to Year (2001-02 to 2010-11) Class 2001-02 2002- 03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 -072006 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 1 Enrolled 2687703 (100%) 2 81% 3 3% 4 9% 5 3% 6 1% 7 4% 8 40% 9 37% 10 27% Source: AEPAM, 2013, p. 91

Table 2.5 illustrates class to class retention rates from grade 1 to 10 during 2001-2 to 2010-11. It shows that 37 percent of children dropped out before completing primary school (classes 1 to 5); among those who proceeded to elementary level (classes 5 to 8), 23 percent dropped out; and similarly, 13 percent dropped out during secondary classes (classes 9and 10). Out of the total enrolment, 63 percent stayed in school until primary, 40 percent until elementary, and only 27 percent until secondary level. Overall, 73 percent of children aged 5- 16 dropped out before reaching the final grade of secondary class 10. Thus, the problem of school dropout appeared to be more severe than non-enrolment in the country.

To obtain a more precise overview of out of school children in Pakistan, it is vital to understand the trends of enrolment in state schools, non-state schools and Madrasahs among children of different age groups. Table 2.6 shows the trends of school enrolment and out of school children in urban Pakistan in 2014.

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Table 2.6 Percentage of School Enrolment and Out of School Children in Urban Pakistan

Source: ASER, 2015, p. 81

Table 2.6 reveals that the trend of private schooling is more evident at all levels in the urban areas of Pakistan. Overall, 61.3 percent of urban children complete their compulsory schooling in private institutions, which implies that parents in urban areas are more cautious about the quality of education and send their children to private schools. Also, private educational institutions are frequently available in big cities and are easy to access. It is assumed that they can deliver a better quality of education by hiring well qualified teachers and therefore the wealthier parents are attracted by private schools (Siddiqui, 2017). It can also be assumed that parents in urban areas are also far more likely to be able to afford private schooling than parents in rural areas due to the higher availability of good jobs.

However, the issue of out of school children still exists in urban Pakistan among all age groups. Almost 6.2 percent of children aged 6-16 do not attend school in urban areas, among them 3 percent are girls and 3 percent are boys. It is important to note that the rates of out of

school girls and boys are the same in urban Pakistan, which implies that the gender bias disappears at secondary level in the cities. It is also significant to note that the dropout rate among upper secondary students (age group 14-16) is the highest at 7.8 percent, as compared to other age groups in the urban areas.

Nevertheless, the phenomenon of out of school children is more evident in the rural areas. The Annual Status of Education Report 2013 states that about 21.1 percent of children aged 6-16 were out of school in rural Pakistan (ASER-Pakistan, 2013), of which 10 percent were boys and 11 percent were girls.

Children State Non-state Providers Out of school children Age group Govt.

schools Private schools Madrasah Others Never enrolled Dropout Total

6-10 30.1 64.0 1.2 0.2 3.2 1.1 100 11-13 38.1 54.2 1.8 0.1 2.3 3.4 100 14-16 41.4 45.6 1.8 0.3 3.2 7.8 100 6-16 34.6 57.5 1.5 0.2 3.0 3.2 100 Total 79.0 6.2 Boys 3%, Girls 3% 100 By type 36.9 61.3 1.6 0.2

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Table 2.7 Percentage of School enrolments and Out-Of-School Children in Rural Pakistan 2014

Source: ASER, 2015, p.71

Table 2.7 shows that the state is a major education provider at all levels in rural Pakistan. 69.8 percent of rural children complete their secondary education in governmental schools, whereas the ratio for urban students is 36.9 percent (ASER-Pakistan, 2015). Furthermore, 21.0 percent of rural children aged 6-16 are out of school, compared to 6.2 percent of urban children. Of the total out of school children in rural Pakistan, 11 percent are girls and 10 percent are boys. Thus, the problem of out of school children is more acute in the rural areas. The table further illustrates that 15.0 percent of children aged 6-10 living in villages never enter a classroom. As in the urban areas, the dropout rate is also higher at secondary level in rural Pakistan. The table shows that 14.5 percent of secondary school children aged 14-16 drop out of school in rural Pakistan. The trends of a Madrasah education are also evident, both in rural and urban areas of the country, with no big difference, which implies that a small proportion of society prefers a religious education over formal schooling in Pakistan. The phenomenon of out of school children is further explored in the rural areas of the four provinces of Pakistan in the next section.