A government-linked education financing report has revealed that 77% of 10-year-old children are unable to read and understand a simple text.
The finding appears in the executive summary of Public Financing in Education 2025–26, a 171-page report released by the Pakistan Institute of Education (PIE), a subsidiary of the Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training in Islamabad.
The report states that the country continues to face critical challenges in access and outcomes, pointing to gaps in foundational literacy and numeracy.
It cites recent findings from the National Achievement Test (NAT) and the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) as further indications of persistent learning gaps.
The document also argues that financing priorities need stronger alignment with teacher quality, learning materials and assessment systems.
The report adds that external shocks have compounded these challenges. It specifically references the 2022 floods, saying they destroyed thousands of schools and disrupted learning for millions of children.
The PIE document analyses education financing from 2019–20 to 2023–24 and discusses both funding levels and how allocations are structured across provinces and the federation.
The report also highlights the out-of-school children figure and broader concerns about education spending remaining below international benchmarks.
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