Out of School Children: ASER Pakistan Reports Substantial Increase in Enrollment
The Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) Pakistan 2025 national report, officially released on March 26, 2026, shows that the number of "Out of School Children" (OOSC) aged 6-16 years in Pakistan is now 5 million, not 25 million generally reported. "The findings on access are encouraging. Enrollment levels are high, with 92.2 percent of children aged 6–16 in school and only 7.7 percent out of school", says the ASER Pakistan 2025 report. ASER Pakistan is a citizen-led initiative, primarily led by Idara-e-Taleem-o-Aagahi (ITA) in collaboration with various national and international partners to promote foundational learning. It also works closely with over 10,000 volunteers and numerous local civil society organizations such as the Aga Khan Foundation (AKF), PAL Network (People's Action for Learning), UNESCO and federal and provincial government departments in Pakistan.
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| Enrolling Out of School Children in Pakistan. Source: ASER Via Bilal Gilani |
The latest ASER report contains a table showing that the 6 to 16 age group has around 66 million boys and girls. Based on these numbers, the out of school children's population is now 5.3 million. Of the total number of enrollees, 62% attend government schools and 27% are in private schools.
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| Number of Out-of-School Children 6-16 Years is 8% (5 million). Source: ASER Pakistan 2025 |
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| Number of Out-of-School Children 3-5 Years is 41%. Source: ASER Pakistan 2025 |
Earlier, the Household Integrated Economic Survey (HIES) released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) in December 2025 put the OOSC figure for children 5-16 years at 20 million. One important difference is the age bracket: ASER's figure of 5 million is for 6-16 years while the HIES figure of 20 million is for 5-16 years.
While the public spending on education remains low in Pakistan, the private sector spending is higher. Recent data indicates annual education expenditure exceeds Rs. 5 trillion ($18 billion), driven by roughly Rs. 2.8 trillion in household spending (private) and Rs. 2.23 trillion in government (public) funding, highlighting a major shift towards private financing.
The total (public+private) spending on education has been rising. In 2024-25 it was $18 billion in USD terms, twice the national defense budget of Pakistan. This appears to be driving higher school enrollment. In addition to increasing access, the key challenges for Pakistan include improving learning outcomes and reducing drop-out rates at higher grade levels.
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ASER Pakistan 2025 | Scale & Scope (National)
The reach of ASER Pakistan continues to grow, capturing the real picture of education across the country.
- 209,338 children assessed
- 158 districts covered
- 128,768 households surveyed
- 6,227 government schools
- 3,136 private schools
These numbers reflect the strength of citizen-led data in shaping education policy and driving meaningful change.
#ASER2025 #ASERPakistan #Education #DataForDevelopment #LearningOutcomes #Pakistan
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1393883596108227&set=a.626405859522675&type=3
According to the ASER Pakistan 2025 report released on March 26, 2026, 92.2% of children aged 6–16 are enrolled in school, reducing the out-of-school children (OOSC) figure to 5 million, significantly lower than previous estimates. The report highlights 7.7% of children (6–16) are out of school, with higher enrolment driven by increased private and public spending exceeding Rs. 5 trillion.
Key ASER Pakistan Enrollment Statistics (2025):
Net Enrollment (6-16 years): 92.2%.
Out of School Children (6-16 years): 5 million (approx. 7.7%).
Regional Focus: The data emphasizes rural-urban divides, with rural areas showing high enrollment, but with continued disparities.
Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) Pakistan
Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) Pakistan
Key Trends in ASER Data:
Declining OOSC Figures: Previous, higher estimates (e.g., 25 million) are challenged by recent ASER 2025 data, which notes that the 5 million figure represents the 6-16 age group, whereas other surveys may use different age brackets, such as 5-16.
Gender Parity: Girls' enrollment has improved, with girls performing equally or better than boys in rural literacy and arithmetic.
Private vs. Public Schools: The ASER 2023 report noted a high demand for private schools (46.5% of students in 2021-22), and substantial private household spending on education, estimated around Rs 2.8 trillion.
Pre-school Enrollment: The ASER 2025 report highlighted that 41% of children aged 3-5 are not in school, indicating most parents begin schooling at age 6.
Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) Pakistan
Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) Pakistan
Methodology & Context:
ASER 2025 covered 158 districts, surveying 128,768 households and 209,338 children.
The 2023 report highlighted that while enrolment is rising, the 2022 floods negatively affected the education of 30% of children, particularly in Sindh and Balochistan.
https://aserpakistan.org/FAQs-ASER-2025
The shift was made to:
Improve national representativeness
Strengthen statistical rigor (weights, probabilities, sampling design)
Align with Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) systems
Enhance policy relevance and credibility
This transition allows ASER to function not only as a citizen-led assessment, but also as a dataset that is more directly usable within official planning and monitoring processes.
ASER 2025 serves as a new national baseline under an improved methodology. It provides a more robust snapshot of children’s access and learning levels across Pakistan, which future rounds can reliably build upon.
The transition was undertaken in collaboration with the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) and the Pakistan Institute of Education (PIE). Their involvement strengthens the technical robustness of the survey and supports its integration into national data systems.
Yes. While the methodology is now more closely aligned with official systems, ASER retains its household-based, citizen-led approach, which allows it to capture data on all children—whether in school or out of school—and ensures independent, community-grounded insights.
https://reliefweb.int/report/pakistan/benazir-nashonuma-programme-delivering-breakthrough-results-preventing-malnutrition
Operating under Pakistan’s Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) – the country's flagship social protection programme – the Benazir Nashonuma Programme has become a cornerstone in the fight against malnutrition in Pakistan.
The final results of the cohort study of the Independent Impact Evaluation presented in May 2026 show some of the strongest results ever documented globally for a nutrition programme, with impact on stunting reduction and child survival. The evaluation is conducted by the Institute for Global Health & Development at Aga Khan University and funded by the Gates Foundation. It followed two groups from early pregnancy – Nashonuma participants and non-participants – both enrolled in BISP Kafaalat.
The evaluation has documented significant impact on maternal outcomes, including full coverage of antenatal care (at least once), improved pregnancy weight gain (+24 g/week), and 0.36 g/dL smaller decline in hemoglobin concentration among Nashonuma participants. It also showed lower adverse birth outcomes, including low birth weight reduced by 6%, preterm births by 11%, and small vulnerable newborns by 7%. For child health outcomes, stunting at 6 months was 22% lower among Nashonuma beneficiaries (equivalent to 9.4 percentage-points), especially reflecting improved maternal nutrition, and at 12 months, it was 18% lower (equivalent to 10.1 percentage-points). The evaluation also found reduced child anemia by 12%, increased full immunization coverage by 17%, while <25% of women achieved adequate dietary diversity.
Launched in 2020, the Benazir Nashonuma Programme targets pregnant and breastfeeding women and children under 2, focusing on the pivotal first 1,000 days. Through its integration with BISP, Nashonuma can reach the most vulnerable mothers and children. The programme is delivered through 578 facilitation and 169 stabilization centers and has reached 4.6 million women and children so far.
Nashonuma provides a comprehensive package of nutrition-specific and -sensitive interventions:
Antenatal and postnatal care services, child growth monitoring and immunization.
Awareness sessions, Social Behavior Change to foster positive maternal, infant and young child nutrition, health, hygiene, breastfeeding and complementary feeding practices.
Conditional cash stipends provided by BISP.
Provision of specialized nutritious food (SNF) and Multi-Micronutrient Supplements (MMS) for mothers and children. SNF consists of 75 and-50 grams of nutrient-packed paste to complement the diet by filling nutrient gaps.
Screening and Management of Moderate and Severe Acute Malnutrition for children and mothers, including lifesaving treatment.
The Nashonuma Programme is managed by the Government of Pakistan under BISP. The World Food Programme (WFP), in close partnerships with Health Departments, supports the management of the 578 Facilitation Centers and the procurement and distribution of SNF to prevent stunting. The centres also screen for, and manage, acutely malnourished children and women. Severe cases with medical complications are referred to one of the 169 nutrition Stabilization Centres supported by the World Health Organization (WHO), which provide lifesaving medical treatment and therapeutic milk (F-75 and F-100), as well as Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF). UNICEF provides RUTF for the treatment of severe acute malnutrition, MMS for women’s micronutrient deficiencies, and manages Social Behavior Change Communication & community engagement.
The Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) Pakistan 2025 report estimates that out-of-school children (OOSC) aged 6–16 stand at roughly 5 million (around 7.7%), with 92.2% enrolled. This contrasts sharply with top-down administrative figures like the Ministry of Education's estimate of 26 million out-of-school children.Key Details from ASER 2025Enrolment Rate: 92.2% for children aged 6–16 across surveyed rural and urban districts.Out-of-School Rate: 7.7% (approx. 5 million children), reflecting a substantial multi-year decline in dropouts among older cohorts, particularly ages 11–16.Scope: Covered 158 districts, surveying over 128,000 households and assessing more than 200,000 children.Context & Methodology DebatesCitizen-Led vs. Administrative Data: ASER relies on household-based, citizen-led surveys, whereas figures near 26 million stem from official top-down administrative databases and the Pakistan Social and Living Standards Measurement (PSLM).Methodological Shifts: Critics note that the 2025 iteration established a new baseline combining expanded rural and urban sampling, making direct comparisons to historical absolute numbers complex.The Learning Crisis: Experts emphasize that while enrolment metrics show positive movement, foundational learning outcomes (reading and arithmetic competencies) continue to face severe regional deficits.
Planning minister says teacher quality key to URAAN's economic transformation
https://tribune.com.pk/story/2625174/rs34b-niete-project-to-build-human-capital
ISLAMABAD:
Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal said on Friday that education remained the backbone of a nation's development and prosperity, and that Pakistan's path to progress fundamentally depends on quality education and the preparation of highly capable teachers.
Every nation must equip its young generation with quality knowledge while developing their productive capacity, creativity and problem-solving skills, he said.
The minister expressed these views during his visit to the National Institute of Excellence in Teacher Education (NIETE), where he was briefed on the institute's various programmes, teacher training activities and progress under the project.
Iqbal said during 2013-2018, four major projects were assigned to the Ministry of Education aimed at reforms in curriculum, the examination system and teacher training. He said he was pleased to see the National Institute of Excellence in Teacher Education (NIETE) taking shape as a functional and growing institution, adding that it was a seed planted by the Ministry of Planning now growing into a strong institution.
The curriculum could only become effective and relevant when teachers were equipped with modern knowledge and updated teaching methodologies, he said.
"Teaching is not merely a job; it is a mission and an instrument of nation-building," he said.
The minister said Pakistan must move beyond rote and copy-paste learning and promote creativity and critical thinking among students. The objective should not merely be to produce a generation that reads books, but one that writes research and generates new ideas.
Alongside modern science and technology education, the younger generation must also be familiarised with Pakistan's national identity, heritage and culture, he said.
"We have to prepare future generations to become confident ambassadors of Pakistan," he said.
Iqbal said URAAN Pakistan aimed not merely to expand education but to build human capital capable of driving a productive, competitive and knowledge-based economy. He stressed that strong foundations in literacy, numeracy and problem-solving must be laid in schools, making teacher quality fundamental to Pakistan's economic development.
The minister said the core idea behind establishing NIETE was that the quality of education could not be improved without improving the quality of teachers. A high-quality teacher education institution could not remain confined to its building; its real laboratory had to be the school and the classroom.
He said research should move from the classroom to evidence, from evidence to policy, and back to improved teaching practices. He stressed that artificial intelligence and modern technology should support teachers while complementing, not replacing, effective teaching.
Iqbal said he wanted to develop a state-of-the-art teacher training institution of the highest international standards, which could become the best such institution in South Asia and serve as a model for Pakistan and the wider world.
The current CDWP-level NIETE project is an extension of the original project launched by the Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training in 2023 under Iqbal's guidance to promote excellence in teacher quality in Pakistan.
The revised project, estimated at Rs3.4 billion, expands the scope of the initiative in line with the education emergency declared by the prime minister and is aligned with URAAN Pakistan's Five Es National Economic Transformation Plan and Sustainable Development Goal 4. The initiative follows a National Consultative Meeting held in July 2022 on revamping teacher education in Pakistan, which focused on modernising teacher education in line with international standards and integrating technology into training, assessment and quality management.