PCE launches ‘Do Schools Get Money’ study

Islamabad
Approximately 57 per cent of the schools, surveyed under budget tracking social accountability study in education sector, did not have usable toilet facility and about 26 per cent schools did not have access to clean drinking water.
This was revealed on the launch of the study titled “Do Schools Get Money?” The research study by the Pakistan Coalition for Education - Pakistan Coalition for Education (PCE) covered 24 districts, Punjab (10 districts), Sindh (6 districts), Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (5 districts), Balochistan (2 districts) and Azad Kashmir (1 district).
The data was collected from a total of 2,312 schools, of which 1,376 were boys’ schools and 716 were girls’ schools. Information pertaining to student enrolment and attendance, teacher demographics, school management councils’ (SMC) structure and missing facilities was gathered from all these schools.
Interestingly, a larger proportion of girls’ schools as compared to boys’ schools had access to water facility, had a complete boundary wall and access to electricity and toilet facilities. Similarly, a larger proportion of the boys’ schools, at 64 per cent, did not have access to a toilet facility compared to 47 per cent of the girls’ schools.
The report shows that the enrolment drops as the class level increased and the drop in was higher in girls’ schools. More than half of the schools surveyed had only one teacher to teach all classes. It was also found that 61 per cent of schools reported to hold school council meetings on monthly basis.
The utilisation of funds was another aspect which the study attempted to delve into. It was found that a considerable portion of funds consumed were used on new installations. The other major usage categories were repair and maintenance (23 per cent utilization) and whitewash (9 per cent utilization). This means that there are insufficient funds left for basic facilities such as toilets.
The study further shows that only 78 per cent of the schools had a complete boundary wall. 90 per cent of the schools reported to have received free textbooks from government during the last academic year. Access to library books in schools, however, was quite limited at only 13 per cent.
During the launch event, a panel discussion was also held which featured prominent discussants from the government agencies as well as the international organizations working in the education sector. The guest speakers discussed the findings of the research and lauded PCE’s foray into an area which was crucial to accountability but was seldom pursued by the researchers.
Open Society Foundations’ Senior Program Officer Nargis Sultana also spoke on the occasion. She said this was a monumental step in terms of assessing governance and accountability mechanisms at schools level in Pakistan. Studies like these formed the basis for more informed decisions and policies which precisely focused on the problems plaguing the public sector education system.
OXFAM – GB Education Program head Saeedul Hassan said this initiative was citizen led and coincides with OXFAM’s efforts in gender responsive education financing. He praised PCE’s initiative and said that research studies such as this puts the citizens at center stage and ultimately is making way towards connecting rights holders with duty bearers which is central to any responsive and accountable social setting.
PCE national coordinator, Zehra Arshad stressed upon regular stock taking of school council working and tracking of school council budget, she said it will help to improve the working of school council which will help to improve learning levels eventually. She also indicated that this research shall be continued and scaled up to eventually cover all districts of Pakistan in the future.