Great 
I hope our Education Minister keep working on in building up our nation. :k:
Go Zubeyda Jalal!
ISLAMABAD: The consolidated results of fourth Pakistan Integrated Household Survey (PIHS) 2001-02 show literacy rate at 48 per cent, with signs of gradual improvement in other social sector indicators.
Selected details of the PIHS were released here on Monday at a press conference after a long delay. The brief summary of major social indicators in the education, health, population welfare and water and sanitation was “refined and consolidated” before making it public. However, the full report, which the government says would include the original findings of the survey, would be released later on.
The most encouraging findings of the PIHS were in the basic education sector. The report shows gross primary school enrolment rate at 84 per cent in 2001-02, up from 71 per cent in 1998-99, including 96 per cent for male and 71 per cent for female. Net primary enrolment rate had also improved to 53 per cent from 42 per cent in the corresponding period of the survey, including 58 per cent for male and 48 per cent for female. It was amazing to see this turn around, as prior to 1998-99, there was a gradual decline in the gross enrolment rate.
Though there was no proper explanation available in the brief summary, it could be the result of a drive launched by former chief minister Punjab Mian Shahbaz Sharif to detect ghost schools. Various education sector initiatives in the later half of the 1990s, though it was a time of economic turbulence, gradually contributed in the setting up of new schools, both in the public and private sectors. Similarly, various steps to make sure that such schools actually work and impart education helped achieve a better gross enrolment rate.
During the three-year military tenure, President General Pervez Musharraf also pledged to make education a priority area, and total spending on the social sector was also increased. It is expected that next survey should maintain this positive trend, if the budget allocation for the social sectors is increased further to meet the needs of growing population at a rate of 2.2 per cent.
The PIHS findings show no significant improvement in the gross and net enrolment rate at the middle and matric levels. :smack: However, the corrections that authorities undertook after the survey show an improvement of 4 percentage points, from 16 per cent to 20 per cent, at the middle level, and 9 percentage points, from 9 per cent to 18 per cent, at the matric level.
The results had also shown improvement in the literacy rate from 45 per cent in 1998-99 (10 years and above) to 48 per cent in 2001-02. The literacy rate for male was reported at 60 per cent, up from 59 per cent, and for female at 34 per cent, up from 31 per cent. The Federal Bureau of Statistics carried out this survey between January and December 2001.
