Chasing Education for all goals: Evidence fromSindh Province of Pakistan

Pakistan was placed at 141st position (out of 182 countries) in termsof Human Development Index (HDI) (HDR 2009). The Government ofPakistan claims that situation is improving, but the state of educationespecially for children in rural areas of Pakistan is alarming. There islack of educational facilities in the rural areas and there are highergender disparities in education. Pakistan is one of the countries whereequal distribution of resources and proper administrative supportremains a big question to ensure the proper utilization of budgets thatdirectly or indirectly benefit poor communities and their vulnerablechildren. Incidence of corruption in education systems of the countryis believed to be high and corruption as an impediment to the effectivedelivery of education services is considered one of the key factorsaffecting deliverance and quality education. The level of corruptionhas not only been institutionalized but has entrenched into thebehaviors of people resulting in absenteeism, acceptance of bribes inexchange for grades / or access to schooling, and the charging fees forstudents’ access to textbooks and the utilization of school property forprivate commercial purposes.The analysis of primary and secondary data shows that theperformance of the Government Education Department in the Sindhprovince is very poor. The overall situation of education servicedelivery is alarming. The analysis of primary and secondary datapresents the picture of poor performance of education deliverables inSindh. Mismanagement and poor governance are evident in educationdepartment. There are also large number of closed or partiallyfunctional schools and schools with poor infrastructure can beobserved with lack of basic facilities. The presence of 4As i.e. Availability, Accessibility, Adaptability and Accountability ofeducational services needs immediate attention.The analysis of primary data shows that there are huge flawsin the management of education services in the Sindh province. Theoverall situation of education in the province is alarming. There islarge number of children, especially in the rural areas who remainout of schools. There is greater gender disparity in education at alllevels. The proper and efficient monitoring and supervision is almostabsent and there is lack of proper physical infrastructure and basicfacilities in schools. The inefficiency of education system causes thevulnerable and weak segments of society excluded from educationalattainments. Thus pushing millions of poor to abject poverty.