Falah-e-Darain Trust

Discouraging Literacy Figures

Education is a fundamental right of every human being and no one should be deprived of this basic right. Its importance does not need to be emphasized. But we must remind ourselves at all times of its far-reaching positive social and economic benefits.

The literacy rate in Pakistan is overwhelmingly grim. Official figures released by Federal Education Ministry of Pakistan give a desperate picture of education for all, especially for girls. The overall literacy rate is 46% while women literacy rate is only 26%.

Independent sources place the overall literacy rate at 26% and the rate for girls and women at 12%, contending that the higher figures include people who can only write a little more than their signatures. Reports also show that in rural areas the figures for women literacy drops as low as 7%.

Of the 73 million school age children 23 million (1/3rd) do not have access to schools. One third of Pakistan’s population is living at or below the food poverty line. Consequently 12.4 million children are forced to join the workplaces and houses for earning livelihood for their families.