The educators proclaimed that education sector is one of the main sectors in the world which empowers and creates ability among the individuals and the societies to utilize their human capabilities and also builds a strong correlation with socio-economic development. In this regard the development of a widely accessible quality and equitable education system is a critical requirement. Yet, 263 million children and young people are out of school around the globe. Research studies mentioned that in most states basic education is presently thought not only as a right, but also as a prime responsibility – governments are typically predicted to ensure access to basic education, while citizens are often required by law to attain education up to a certain basic level.
Experts also mention that the government funds to finance the expansion of education came from a number of various sources, but specifically taxes at the local level played a crucial role.
Unluckily, Pakistani youth including children are way behind in getting an education than every other country in the region. If we want to see Pakistan stand among developed states then it is necessary that the Government of Pakistan allocates a decent budget for that ensures equal and quality access to education for all citizens of the country. The government officials mentioned in a statement that the total number of enrolments at national level during FY2016-17 reached at 48.062 million as against to 46.223 million during FY2015-16. This shows a growth of 3.97 percent and it is predicted to additional increase to 50.426 million during FY2017-18. The total number of institutes reached at 260.8 thousands during FY2016-17 as against to 252.8 thousands during previous year and the number of institutes are predicted to rise to 267.7 thousands during FY2017-18.
The total number of teachers during 2016-17 was recorded 1.726 million as against to 1.630 million during last year explaining a rise of 5.9 percent. This number of teachers is predicted to rise further to 1.808 million during the year FY2018. Despite all these, our Finance Ministry presently announced total budget of Rs 5.246 trillion for FY2018-19, with the tax revenue and FBR revenue targets set at Rs 4.88 trillion and Rs 4.435 trillion. The Ministry also showed that public expenditure on education as a percentage of GDP is predicted to be 2.2 percent in FY 2017 as compared to 2.3 percent of GDP in FY 2016, which is the lowest in the region South Asia.
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Pre-primary and primary education
In a brief budget statement, the Ministry of Finance also mentioned that the Government of Pakistan has allocated Rs 10.12 billion for pre-primary and primary education affairs in budget FY2018-19 as against to Rs 8.748 billion for FY2018.
Secondary education
Statistics also show that Rs 12.365 billion allocated for Secondary Education Affairs & Services for FY2018-19, which was previously Rs 10.798 billion for FY2018.
Tertiary education
Furthermore, our government officials also proclaimed that total Rs 71.824 billion embarked for Tertiary Education Affairs and Services against Rs 68.252 billion earmarked for FY2018.
Higher education commission
The Ministry of Finance showed that Higher Education Commission’s development budget has been increased to Rs 46.7 billion as compared to Rs 35.7 billion in the outgoing fiscal year. The statistics also showed that out of total 46.7 billion amount, almost Rs 40,218 million has been allocated for ongoing schemes, while Rs 6,462 million has been allocated for new schemes.