Towards Bettering Education in Pakistan
April 24, 2014
Last weekend, I had the pleasure of speaking at the Harvard College Pakistan Conference. The organizers did a phenomenal job setting an agenda and collecting a host of speakers who spoke to issues beyond the usual refrain of terrorism and corruption. Focusing on topics like energy, the economy, and innovation, the well-attended event set a realistic but positive tone of engagement for a better future.
I was invited to speak on a panel titled, "The Public-Private Paradigm", due to the time I had spent on the ground working on public education reform in Pakistan. I worked with a small team led by Sir Michael Barber to help drive tangible change across a number of important indicators. For a full review of our work, read our report here, but see a summary of our impact below:
Enrolled roughly 1.5 million extra children in school
Increased facilities with functioning electricity, drinking water, toilet and boundary walls from 69 percent to 91 percent
Increased student attendance from 83 percent to 92 percent
Increased teacher attendance increased from 81 percent to 91 percent
Hired 81,000 new teachers based on merit
Simple, easy-to-use lesson plans for every teacher and new textbooks for every student
A voucher scheme which enables over 140,000 out-of-school children of poor families to attend private schools
While we achieved a lot, there is much more to be done to move the needle for real change in the Pakistani education system. Reflecting on our panel's conversation this weekend, I outlined a few areas that should be top of mind for anyone thinking about the next phase of reform:
Private school boom. One of the most well-documented and lauded trends in Pakistani education has been the rise of private education systems. Today, nearly one-third of the school going population attends private schools. However, if one segments the Pakistani population, it becomes clear that the private schools are not meeting the needs of crucial elements of society. The upper class has strong institutions like Lahore Grammar School, Aitchison College, Karachi Grammar School, and others; the next income-level segment has school systems like the Beaconhouse School System; but the opportunities for folks who cannot afford those tiers of school are left with a wide-ranging disparity of choices. This segment of society is largely lower class or at the poverty line and below. Few wide-ranging school systems with brand-recognition exist to meet this price point, and the smaller independent private schools that cater to this demographic allow for little transparency and oversight, leaving a large portion of the population out of Pakistan’s development story.
Public primary education. In both high school and middle school segments, the private sector has grown at nearly 150% over the past 15 years according to the United Nations. However, in the primary school segment, private sector growth has barely reached 20% over that same time period, and public sector growth has remained almost stagnant during this period. Given that primary education is the pipeline for further education and reducing disparities in achievement, whether it be in private schools or in public schools, extra attention and resources must be focused on this segment for the health of the entire system. Given the lack of private alternatives, especially at low cost, the urgency for greater reform in public primary schools remains higher than ever.
Non-profits. Rural parts of the country often have dispersed populations, forcing children to travel further to attend their local public school. Unfortunately, private schools have little incentive as profit-maximizing entities to reach these geographies given talent and resource constraints as well as lower volume of consumers compared to more urban areas. The focus of the non-profit sector should be to help fill the void in these more rural geographies of the country where the public and private sector may be lapsing, rather than trying to compete in urban areas.
Girls. The biggest tragedy in Pakistan’s education system is the lack of opportunity for girls. Pakistan’s current labor force is only ~30 percent female, and though part of this may be accounted for by cultural impediments, but a large part of this can be attributed to the lack of encouragement and opportunities given to girls education at an early age. In some rural districts of Punjab for instance, enrollment of girls in primary schools was around 60-70 percent compared to 90+ percent for their male counterparts. If Pakistan wants to be serious about its future, it cannot afford to educate only half of its population.
Opportunity cost. I can recount countless conversations with parents in rural geographies who begrudgingly asked why they should send their 10 year-old kid to public school when he or she could be out working to help their family make ends meet. In order for education to matter in Pakistan, the opportunity cost of sending children to school must be less than their projected future. This matters for education policy as we think about how to develop enrollment campaigns and better public school options, but also for policy makers and industry leaders who must imagine an economy that rewards education in a meaningful way. For those who do not graduate from a top Pakistani university, or who only graduate from high school, the differences between leaving school early and graduating in one of those scenarios are often too narrow to be distinguished.
Workforce training. As of 2010, 35 percent of third graders in Pakistan could not do single digit subtraction. Improving teacher quality and student outcomes are obvious priorities, but in many public schools, basic topics like electricity and teacher attendance are first-order issues before even thinking about improving outcomes. Even if we improve enrollment (nearly 7 million kids of eligible age are expected not to be enrolled in school), many will graduate and still not be competitive in the labor market (this is not a problem just for Pakistan, but even in America). Intelligent deployment of workforce training centers and programs can help alleviate at least part of this trend. Arif Naqvi, CEO of Abraaj Capital, has started a large workforce training project in Karachi through his Aman Foundation. A fellow Stanford colleague, Benje Williams, is currently working on his social enterprise, Amal Academy, that focuses on similar types of training. Although not a stop-gap for poor education, such programs can help get thousands of individuals into the labor market. Furthermore, the private sector must also step-up: some technology companies have taken the lead by training high school graduates in computer programming using Coursera courses, and then employing them once they’ve successfully passed these requirements. Domestic industry leaders must follow suit and either partner with existing workforce programs or find innovative ways to plug this latent workforce into their industries in a productive and efficient manner.
Technology. A large number of questions I fielded after the panel involved the role of technology in improving access to education. I am constantly impressed by many entrepreneurs working in this space across the globe, especially Khan Academy and its Lite product, as well as others who are using mobile technology to improve literacy rates and provide platforms for basic education training. Mobile penetration is extremely high in Pakistan, but smartphone and internet penetration still remain around the 20 percent range. And those in rural geographers, who arguably could benefit from such resources, are even worse off when it comes to connectivity. I am still bullish on the role technology can play in this space, but I think we are still 5+ years away from seeing significant change - or until Google’s Internet balloons reach Pakistan.
Execution and accountability. At the end of the day, a common refrain from those frustrated with progress in Pakistan is to blame leadership. When it comes to education, at least in the public sector, I have witnessed first-hand a committed group of folks who are working towards making significant progress. However, to make this talented machine work, we need a consistent strategy and unwavering leadership that understands how to leverage this talent across multiple stakeholders and initiatives. With a handful of individuals and almost no budget, our team was able to drive change across a province of 100 million citizens, holding individuals and organizations at all levels accountable. The public sector in Pakistan has the adequate resources to make necessary improvements. I have no doubt that with the right leadership, it can also create the next wave of change.