Pakistan Ranked 48th in English Skills Worldwide

According to Education First’s (EF) English Proficiency Index (EPI), Pakistan ranks at 48th place out of 72 countries.

It is a common notion that English is the international language. Despite many nations, such as China, fighting to promote their own language over English, the status of English language has not faltered on the global stage. English is recognized as the go-to language for foreigners visiting a different country due to its global reach.

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Pakistan’s Ranking in EPI

Pakistan, where English is taught in schools from the 1st grade (and even earlier), has failed to register a good score. The EF EPI score for Pakistan was 48.78. The average score places Pakistan 13th out of 19 countries in Asia, which were included in the study.

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Pakistan summary according to EF’s website

The main reason why Pakistan lagged behind other prominent nations was poor governance, which failed to improve the quality of education in the country.

Not long ago, State Bank of Pakistan issued a staff note for quality and effectiveness of public spending on education in Pakistan. It highlighted that most governments in the recent past have failed to invest and bring about an improvement in the educational sector.

Pakistan was ranked among worst ten countries for internet freedom, according to a latest survey, which was also a crucial criteria for the EPI.

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In Pakistan women have stronger English skills compared to the men, study showed.

About the Test

To assess the English proficiency of 72 countries, an online test was conducted by EF. The aim was to highlight which non-native country has the highest rank in this regard.

A total of 950,000 people took the EF Standard English Test (EFSET), during the year 2015, belonging to the 72 countries.

Countries which had good internet access and an education system, tended to do much better than others. According to the study EF conducted, Netherlands, Denmark and Sweden ranked in the top three respectively whereas countries like Iraq were at the bottom of the list.

The study conducted comprised of two parts.

  1. Evaluation of relation between English and its relationship to various socio-economic factors.
  2. Proficiency across four continents: Europe, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).

Drawback of this Study

Even though the study is well conducted, there is room for improvement. The study test comprises of multiple choice questions, which are accounted for reading and listening skills.

There is no spoken fluency or writing test which would give a better and a much clearer indication as to which nation surpasses the other in the EPI.

The complete list can be found at EF’s website.

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  • So what? English is not our language and by getting it doesn’t make any one superior or inferior.
    But the real problem is in struggle of English we are forgetting our own language. Just go to any Private school and ask any child about alaf be pe or ek do teen chaar and He will look at you like you have asked him about Masla Feesa Ghouras

    • Agreee :) Hum ny b 6th me A fro Apple parrha hai and I am sure Much better than All English Libral Families :D

      • Wese b aajkal larrkiyan khalis urdu bolne walay se ziada jaldi mutaasar hoti hyn kyun woh ziada shaayesta lagta hai.

    • today’s most of the grown up don’t even know counting in Urdu and i have seen many people who were calling Urdu ” The language of Middle and 3rd class” even In job they will mock you for using Urdu in daily conversation.

      • I still remember we have to tell some private school studied girls n boys our marks twice. Once Unchaas in urdu and second time forty nine in english because even their angels didn’t aware of what Unchaas is.

  • You would only see such articles in a “desi” country. We should get out of the colonized mind set by now. Its been some time since our overlords left us.

  • One of the CSS qualified officers once told me, “Beta English ki book apne taqiyye k neeche rakho aur iska saath na chorho tum CSS qalify karloge. Hum qoam angrezi zabaan k ghulam hai.”. I was like :O

  • Although,its sad to see that english skills of our country are poor,
    Nobody cares :D
    Just ask the whole world if they can speak urdu. :P
    Only 1 in every 35 people can ?
    On a more serious note though ;
    English seems to have become a benchmark for education quality in the world. Although it may be important to learn english in this competitive new era, our local languages are getting left behind in the race to make every child an “affcer”.

    Even my urdu is weaker than my english :/

  • Bakwas report.. Thai can’t speak English at all and they are so close to Pakistan, I don’t believe this at all.


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