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