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hen a child is out of school - there are 25-26 million of them in Pakistan - or at risk of dropping out, it is most likely because they are from a poor and fragile household, malnourished, suffering from poor health, affected by frequent climate change episodes, conflicts, displaced and not covered by social protection. With multi-layered deprivations and distress where gender further aggravates who gets to eat and learn, there is urgency for service delivery to become multi-sectoral by design. This can lead to convergence of scarce domestic resources for results-based service delivery amidst shrinking development aid.
There is a need for localised data driven planning with functional local governments, purpose- and outcomes-driven in service delivery rather than as a threat to democracy. We are living in a world with accelerated chaos, change, crises and extreme polarisation of wealth and power, exacerbating inequality, both globally and nationally. The recent Seville Commitment/ Actions (July 2025 at the 4th International Conference Financing for Development) highlighted the limits to action in ‘global events’ as highlighted by Pakistan’s delegation. It is time for Pakistan to stand on its feet with a vision for futures’ skills coherently leveraging blended financing at local, provincial and federal levels including what to rightsize to reduce the financial burden of 65 federal ministries/ departments and 100s of attached entities.
The IMF insistence on bold and transformative rightsizing of all civil servant grades (1-22), backed by amendments in laws, seeks to streamline operations, eliminate redundancies and reallocate resources for efficient and better public service delivery. This principle must be underpinned in public sector institutional planning across Pakistan, i.e. purpose- and outcomes-oriented workforce providing relief to citizens and all children to achieve fundamental constitutional entitlements without discrimination.
Many taxpayers find cabinet expansion and salary raises for bureaucrats painful and contradictory. With reference to the education sector, there is an urgent need to revisit the game changing 18th Amendment. It omitted the concurrent list - including education - redefining responsibilities across provinces and the federal government. The ongoing downsizing must factor the constitutional paradigm shift devolving human development to the provincial level with some exceptions as per the Federal Legislative List (FLL) Part I and II (2010). According to the 18th Amendment the following was radically omitted from the concurrent and has been almost entirely managed by the provinces since then: curriculum, syllabus, planning, policy, centers of excellence and standards of education and Islamic education.
However, as we all know the still persists at the federal level. This needs a threadbare national debate.
A repeat of 2010, when strategic bodies/ ministries were guillotined, breaking the implementation momentum and depleting societal confidence through erratic governance, must be avoided. The citizens must be kept informed on rightsizing and effective local government for impactful timely human development service delivery.
Further, Article 25-a added a fundamental right to education for all children 5-16 years of age without exception. This extended beyond Aticles 37-38 of Principles of Policy for implementation subject to resources (and not legally enforceable).
The federal interpretation of the 18th Amendment overlooking the FLL Part I/ II led to the complete abolition of the Ministry of Education in 2010-11; letters of protest were sent by the scribe. In July 2011 the Ministry was restored with a limited scope. Given the complex multilayered crisis of education, the international commitment to SDGs 2030 and education as a pivot (SDG 4), how must the federation respond? What mature principles must be adopted for rightsizing the federal government, including the Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training (MoFE&PT) and its affiliate bodies?
The PM’s call for action to address the Education Emergency (May 2024) within 100 days of the new government had resonated with citizens. Since then, the low budget for education with merely 0.8 percent GDP expenditure in nine months (Economic Survey 2024-25) for a runaway population of 244 million; and abysmal indicators and highest number of out of school children in the world have shattered the citizens’ confidence. There is an imperative for strong evidence-based planning currently underway across provinces and federal areas to implement five policies for foundational learning matched by resources, data and precision targeting. The role of the Pakistan Institute of Education is critical. The PIE is a strategic affiliate of MoFE&PT consolidating data/ indicators for planning, standards and global reporting to UNESCO/UNICEFas guardians of SDG 4 and the UN Statistical Division.
The PIE covers both data and assessment streams for Pakistan and is well aligned with the FLL Part I and II supporting the MoFE&PT for national planning; coordination and research; reporting on international conventions and agreements in education (SDG 4); and inter-provincial matters and coordination. The PIE works closely with the provincial education departments and data/ planning affiliates with standardised agreed methodologies of data collection and reportingas a responsible national and internationalprofessional body. For the MoFE&PT, the PIE represents Pakistan on SDGs Global platforms for data&assessment streamsas an elected member of the prestigious UIS Education Data and Statistics Commission.
For three years, the PIE, supported by its provincial counterparts, has been providing regular and nuanced open source reporting on access, quality, equity and inclusion at the system level thematically and through the annual Pakistan Education Statistics for the federation to track performance and challenges in education. A repeat of 2010, when strategic bodies/ ministries were guillotined, breaking the implementation momentum and depleting societal confidence through erratic governance, must be avoided. The citizens must be kept informed on rightsizing and effective local government for impactful timely human development service delivery. Fragmented reforms can be fatal for social justice and productivity that Pakistan can ill-afford.
The writer is the CEO of Idara-i-Taleem-o-Agaahi (ITA); and Founder Pakistan Learning Festival. Email: baela.jamilitacec.org