Education lies at the heart of sustainable development and human capital growth. In Sindh, where nearly half the population is under the age of 16, the state of education holds the key to breaking the cycle of poverty and underdevelopment. While the recently announced Sindh Budget 2025-26 has brought education to the forefront, critical gaps remain in access, quality, and equity. And if we don’t fix the cracks now, we risk losing another generation to the same broken system.
Sindh, Pakistan’s second-most populous province with 55.7 million people, faces significant challenges in education despite having a demographic edge. The province has the country’s youngest population — 30 per cent aged between 5 and 16 years and 80pc under 40 years of age. At the same time, there’s a high number of out-of-school children (OOSC), the curriculum is plagued by poor learning outcomes, public-private-madressah disparities, gender inequality, and weak adaptability of the education system to labour market demands and climate risks.
In this year’s budget, the Sindh government has earmarked Rs613.36 billion for education — with Rs524.32 billion directed towards service delivery and Rs89.04 billion set aside for development — marking a significant increase from last year’s allocation of Rs454 billion. Key allocations include Rs13.5 billion for the Sindh Education Foundation (SEF) and Rs 2.5billion for madressah reforms. But can these investments truly reverse the tide of Sindh’s worsening education crisis?
While spending commitments for school scholarships and endowment funds — including partnerships with organisations like Akhuwat — signal a push to engage the private sector and civil society, the absence of a comprehensive strategy to bring out-of-school children back into classrooms risks rendering these efforts insufficient.
The problems and their solutions
According to the Economic Survey FY25, Sindh’s gross primary enrolment rate stands at 71pc, far below the national average of 84pc, with even Balochistan slightly ahead at 72pc. Middle school enrolment is just 54pc, again trailing behind the national average.
Notably, 47pc of children in Sindh remain out of school, second only to Balochistan.
The problem is worse in disaster-prone districts such as Khairpur, Larkana, Dadu, and Sanghar, where cumulative enrolment barely reaches 33pc.
While the budget includes allocations for climate-resilient infrastructure, investment in flood mitigation — crucial to safeguarding continuous education — remains limited. Sindh’s education system has repeatedly suffered in the aftermath of disasters such as the 2010 and 2022 floods, which devastated rural communities and damaged over 20,000 schools. Investing in disaster-resilient school infrastructure, mobile learning units, and early warning systems can protect educational continuity in future crises.
Moreover, education must be integrated into disaster risk reduction policies to ensure that rebuilding goes beyond physical infrastructure to address the educational needs of displaced children and vulnerable communities. Schools must not only be rebuilt but also designed with resilience to withstand future disasters. Early recovery planning should prioritise the rapid resumption of education through temporary learning centres, distance education, and psychosocial support for children affected by emergencies. Climate-resilient schools with elevated structures, solar power, and rainwater harvesting systems can serve as community hubs in times of crisis.
Beyond disasters, Sindh’s education infrastructure is weak.
Only 31pc of schools have electricity, 58pc have drinking water, and 57pc have toilets, all below national averages.
The province has responded by expanding public-private partnerships through SEF. Programmes like the Adopt-a-School and Foundation-Assisted Schools aim to enhance management and learning outcomes. The current Rs13.5 billion allocation to SEF is a positive step, but further efforts are needed to improve access for girls and marginalised communities. The success of public-private partnerships hinges on careful regulation, teacher training, and local community engagement.
Evaluations of SEF-supported schools have shown that while these schools often outperform purely public counterparts, challenges around quality assurance, equitable access, and gender disparities remain. Transparent performance monitoring and feedback loops are essential to scaling up such models effectively. Evidence from successful public-private partnership (PPP) models in other countries, such as Bangladesh’s BRAC schools, demonstrates that when communities are actively involved and accountability mechanisms are strong, public-private partnerships can significantly boost enrolment and learning outcomes. Sindh can adapt such models by focusing on scalability, transparency, and gender inclusion.
Learning outcomes remain dismal
According to the 2023 Annual Status of Education Report (ASER), only 22pc of Grade 5 students in rural Sindh can read a basic English sentence, and just 27pc can perform division. Private school students consistently outperform their government school counterparts across all subjects. The absence of relief in the current budget for school expenses such as textbooks, stationery, and unchecked private school fees continues to burden poor families, leading to high dropout rates.
The stark divide in education reflects deep-rooted socioeconomic inequalities. For the poorest, madressahs are the only viable option as they offer food and shelter. Low-income families opt for low-cost private schools, while others rely on underfunded government schools. Despite the Sindh Right to Free and Compulsory Education Act 2013, reforms have failed to eliminate these disparities. The gap is evident in literacy and numeracy outcomes between urban and rural, rich and poor students, and between boys and girls. Gender gaps are exacerbated by unsafe school environments, lack of female teachers, and absence of transport.
Without targeted investment in girls’ education, including stipends, infrastructure, and security, these gaps will persist.
The government must go beyond policy declarations to implement on-the-ground solutions. Conditional cash transfers for families, free transport for rural girls, and incentives for female teachers to work in remote areas can help narrow the learning divide. In urban areas, the government should regulate private schools to prevent exploitation and ensure quality standards. A universal minimum education standard, enforced across all types of schools — including madressahs — is imperative to reduce disparities.
Bridging this divide will also require a cultural shift. Engaging religious leaders, tribal elders, and local influencers to advocate for education, particularly for girls, can help shift societal norms. Furthermore, the establishment of community-based schools, especially in sparsely populated rural areas, can provide localised access to education, reducing the distance barrier that disproportionately affects girls.
The silver linings
One promising initiative in the 2025-26 budget is the decentralisation of education funds to school-level cost centres, empowering over 34,000 government schools to manage operational budgets. However, without transparency and accountability mechanisms, this reform risks enabling corruption at grass-roots level rather than driving improvement.
Past reliance on (currently dysfunctional) school management committees has shown limited success, particularly in rural areas where community participation remains low. To maximise the impact of decentralised budgets, there must be robust oversight through digital monitoring systems, community scorecards, and third-party audits. Capacity-building for headteachers and school councils is critical to ensuring that funds are used effectively. Without these safeguards, decentralisation may inadvertently replicate existing inefficiencies.
For children with disabilities, the budget promises to double assistive device outreach, benefiting 40,000 persons with disabilities (PWDs) through NGO collaborations. Monthly stipends will increase, alongside the provision of meals and uniforms, which is a commendable move toward inclusive education. In addition to the proposed stipends, the government should establish specialised teacher training, provide disability inclusive school transport, and enforce building codes for disability-friendly school infrastructure. These interventions will align Sindh’s approach with global standards under the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
Another focus area is the regulation of madressahs. With over 7,118 registered seminaries, the allocated Rs2.5 billion should be spent not only on grants but also on ensuring their registration, regulation, and integration into the broader education system, bringing these children into the national fold. The inclusion of madressah students in standardised assessments would also help track their progress and ensure consistency with national education goals. Bringing these religious schools into the formal education system is essential for national cohesion and human capital development.
Without structural reform, the budget means little
While the Sindh education budget for 2025-26 introduces some forward-looking initiatives — such as decentralisation, SEF expansion, and disability inclusion — it falls short of addressing the systemic barriers that perpetuate low enrolment, poor learning outcomes, and gender inequality. Without stronger political will, enhanced accountability, and targeted investment in girls’ education, disaster resilience, and rural schooling, Sindh risks falling further behind. Education must be made a true national priority, not just through financial commitments but through sustained reforms and implementation.
Achieving these reforms will require more than financial allocations; it demands strong governance, transparent decision-making, and unwavering political commitment. Without these pillars in place, the current budgetary allocations — already insufficient — risks leaving another generation of Sindh’s youth unequipped for meaningful employment and a secure future.
Header image: A classroom at a public school in Thatta, Sindh. — Shutterstock/ File
