“FORMULATING POLICY FOR UNIVERSAL PRIMARY EDUCATION: A STUDY OF PAKISTAN”

Abstract

For centuries, there has been increasing consensus around the world that education policy targeted towards Universal Primary Education (UPE) can successfully achieve governments’ goal of incorporating individuals into their respective societies. This is a qualitative research that studies the effectiveness of three National Education Policies of Pakistan, which were implemented during the years 2002-2018, on three variables of primary education in Pakistan: rate of enrolment, rate of completion, and literacy rate. Interviews of ex government officials, responsible for implementing primary education policies during the period of study, are the source of primary data, which are backed by secondary data from the World Bank Database for education indicators, Pakistan Social and Living Standards Measurement (PSLM), and Pakistan Economic Surveys. A descriptive exploratory approach is used for the data analysis. This research concludes that success in enrolment, completion, and literacy rates have been achieved when the policy was very specific, especially in terms of targets; what to achieve and by when to achieve. This was witnessed in the Education Policy 1998-2010, where the words enrolling all children by the year 2003, was clearly mentioned. A reason for failure in achieving the targets of the policies was the absence of translation of policy into implementable strategy and programs. For instance, the Education Policy 1998-2010 was followed by a well-defined strategy and programs, with full support at the National level. Subsequent policies from 2009 to 2025 neither had a well-defined strategy or programs nor had the support of the highest office in Pakistan. This points to the need of a strong political will at all levels of the Government, from Federal to Provincial, to achieve the set targets.