The latest findings by Gallop Pakistan show that by Class 5, only 52.3% of children can read a Class 2-level story in Urdu, Sindhi, or Pashto.
In the same grade, 56.3% can read English sentences, while 49.6% can solve two-digit division. The picture is even more troubling in the early years of schooling.
By Class 3, only 12.4% of students can read a story in Urdu, Sindhi, or Pashto. Just 13.8% can read English sentences, while only 9.1% are able to do division.
The findings show that students in private schools perform better than those in government schools, though learning levels remain far from satisfactory in both systems. Differences based on gender and rural-urban location are relatively small compared to the much wider gap linked to schooling status.
The overall picture suggests that years spent in school do not necessarily guarantee that children will pick up basic literacy and numeracy skills at the expected level.
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Source: Gallop Pakistan
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