Who Really Benefits from Education in Pakistan?

In a country where education is hailed as the pathway to opportunity, Pakistan’s schooling system often ends up reinforcing the very inequalities it promises to solve. From sky-high tuition fees to systemic gender exclusion, the real question remains: Who does education in Pakistan actually serve?

The Income Angle

For many Pakistani families, education — especially quality education — is simply unaffordable. While public schools struggle with underfunding and neglect, private schools offering CAIE and international curricula can cost over Rs. 50,000 per month — a figure well beyond the means of families earning Rs. 75,000+ monthly.

Yet these are the very exams used to benchmark success, gain university admissions, or compete globally. Only around 200,000 students out of 5 million secondary enrolled learners appear for international board exams in Pakistan. The rest are stuck with systems that don’t carry the same value in the job market or higher education. This stark divide makes quality education a privilege, not a right.

The Gendered Angle

The situation is worse for girls. In households with tight finances, boys are more likely to be prioritized for quality education. Cultural barriers add another layer, particularly in conservative or rural regions where sending girls to physical schools is discouraged.

This means that even when affordable models exist, they’re not always accessible. Unless education is both affordable and culturally flexible — for instance, online and girl-friendly — millions will continue to be left behind.

The Market Structure

Most elite schools operate on a profit-maximizing logic. The goal? Get more students with 6–7 A*s, put them on the billboard, hike the fee, and keep the cycle going. What about the 99% who can’t afford this race? They’re left scrambling for scholarships, crowd-funded tutoring, or compromise altogether.

And as inflation bites deeper, private institutions keep scaling, franchising, and opening designer campuses — yet the average family remains priced out.

Teachers Making More Than Bank CEOs

In the top 1% of this system, a celebrity teacher or academic brand earns more monthly than many bank executives or top civil servants. It has become a celebrity economy — not a student-first model. The teaching profession, once seen as a public service, is now a high-yield investment for the few who own or dominate it

What Holistic Education Really Means

Even for those who can afford access, what kind of education are they really getting?

The current model focuses almost exclusively on grades and test-taking, with little emphasis on preparing students for real life. Holistic education is barely prioritized — and often completely absent.

But what is holistic education?
It includes:

• Emotional intelligence
• Financial literacy
• Ethics and civic responsibility
• Digital literacy and AI tools
• Public speaking and structured thinking
• Career readiness and entrepreneurship

These are not “extras.” Today they are essential in preparing well-rounded, capable citizens.

The Way Forward

If Pakistan wants to close the education gap — not just between income classes, but between potential and opportunity — we need radical shifts.

We need models that:

• Deliver quality education affordably (under Rs. 3,000/month)
• Prioritize both academic and life skills
• Are accessible to girls in culturally restrictive environments
• Don’t rely on Meta/Google ad budgets to grow — but on grassroots traction

One such model is being pioneered by Easy Taleem, a platform founded by Irfan Anwar. Focused solely on girls, Easy Taleem offers CAIE-based education at less than 5% of market cost. It incorporates holistic learning and targets the 50k–75k income segment that is too poor for private schools but too rich for NGO-run setups. The goal is to onboard 2,000 girls by end of May 2026 for the May/Jun 2026 exam session— fully online.

One Pakistan — Not Two

In a country where only 1 out of 6 children enroll in secondary education, and where only a tiny fraction makes it to international boards, education risks becoming a class marker — not a tool for empowerment.

But it doesn’t have to be that way.

A world-class, locally-built, globally-accepted curriculum — accessible online and tested affordably — can reshape this reality. With public-private partnerships, and corporate HRs stepping in to support their employees’ children, we can reduce the load from families and open doors for millions.

Because ultimately, an educated, skilled, and ethical population doesn’t just uplift households — it builds nations.