Pakistan pre-primary enrolment drops by 9.9%: Economic Survey 2025-26

ISLAMABAD: The Economic Survey 2025-26, offers a glimpse into the state of education in Pakistan, highlighting both progress and persistent challenges across various levels of the education sector.

Pakistan’s population stands at 252 million, growing at an annual rate of 2.07 percent.

Among school-age children, 28 percent remain out of school nationwide. The situation is particularly alarming in Balochistan, where 45 percent of school-age children are not enrolled in educational institutions.

The Net Enrolment Rate (NER) at the primary level stands at 54 percent nationally. At the middle level, the NER is 23 percent, while at the matric level it drops to 16 percent. For girls in Balochistan, the matric-level enrolment rate is only 3 percent.

At the national level, pre-primary enrolment declined by 9.9 percent, falling from 11.77 million in 2022-23 to 10.61 million in 2023-24. The estimated pre-primary enrolment for 2024-25 is expected to be around 10.4 million.

In contrast, primary school enrolment increased by 3.1 percent, reaching 25.38 million students in 2023-24, compared to 24.61 million in 2022-23.

Middle school enrolment recorded a significant increase of 14.9 percent, rising to 10.8 million students in 2023-24 from 9.4 million a year earlier.

Secondary school enrolment also showed notable growth, increasing by 13 percent to 5.42 million students in 2023-24 from 4.72 million in 2022-23.

Enrolment in higher secondary education rose by 27 percent, reaching 2.97 million students in 2023-24, compared to 2.33 million in the previous year.

Higher education institutions continued to expand, although growth in enrolment remained relatively modest. Enrolment in degree colleges is projected to reach 0.94 million students in 2024-25, up from 0.90 million in 2023-24.

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Pakistan had 239 universities during 2023-24, while total enrolment in higher education institutions stood at 1.96 million students, reflecting a 1.4 percent increase over the previous year.

Technical and vocational education has gained greater policy attention in recent years. During 2024-25, an estimated 4,746 technical and vocational institutes with 51,440 teachers were operational across the country. Enrolment in the sector increased to 0.46 million in 2023-24 from 0.45 million in 2022-23.

The percentage of the population aged 10 years and above who have ever attended school increased from 61 percent in 2018-19 to 67 percent in 2024-25.

Pakistan’s literacy rate for individuals aged 10 years and above rose from 61 percent to 63 percent in 2024-25.

Provincially, Punjab recorded the highest literacy rate at 68 percent, followed by Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa at 58 percent each. Balochistan reported the lowest literacy rate at 49 percent.

The proportion of Out-of-School Children (OOSC) in Pakistan declined from 38 percent in 2023 (35 percent for boys and 42 percent for girls) to 28 percent in 2025.

Balochistan recorded the most significant improvement, with the proportion of out-of-school children falling from 69 percent to 45 percent. The rate also declined in Sindh from 47 percent to 39 percent, in Punjab from 32 percent to 21 percent, and in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa from 30 percent to 28 percent.