Home truths: understanding inequity in Pakistan

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDG, goal 4) require that all girls and boys complete free, equitable and quality primary and secondary education. However, access to education in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), Pakistan remains... [ view full abstract ]

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDG, goal 4) require that all girls and boys complete free, equitable and quality primary and secondary education. However, access to education in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), Pakistan remains fraught with persistent inequities. These inequities are not just reflected in the access to education but also in the pedagogies, resulting in effective exclusion of marginalised children. Sustainable development will require inclusive education for all children and responding to the needs of children at risk of exclusion requires insights based on evidence.

There is currently little reliable information in Pakistan about the exclusionary factors that hamper equitable access to education.  It is assumed that children may be vulnerable due to poverty, gender related disadvantages, or due to one or the other form physical, mental or sensory impairments.  Ensuring equity implies precise determination of the barriers to access and learning and the development of viable mitigation strategies (including reformed teacher professional development) to remove these barriers.

This paper looks at the equity related challenges by examining the primary data on barriers to education. The data has been collected in 2017 from all households in the KP through a census of out of school children and through focus group discussions with teachers and community members. The data identifies each out of school child in the KP and his/her reason to be out of the school as well as exclusions enabled through inappropriate pedagogies in the classrooms. This paper will fill an important evidence gap by analysing the findings of this study to help both the government of KP and its development partners in their efforts to develop viable professional development plans and inclusive teaching and learning materials to meet the sustainable development goals.