Economic Survey 2013-2014: govt plans four percent of GDP on education by 2018

KARACHI: The government has planned to enhance the public sector spending on education sector from current two percent of GDP to four percent by 2018 as the current allocation is lowest in the region of South Asia.
During the fiscal year 2013-2014 the government of Pakistan has allocated Rs 39 billion for the recurring expenditures whereas the released amount is 34.12 billion while Rs 18.49 billion were allocated for the development of higher education sector whereas they only released 11.65 billion.
The report said that Higher Education Commission (HEC) disbursed recurring grant to different universities on the basis of enrolment of students, performance and financial requirements of the particular institution.
Currently, the literacy rate of the population (10 years and above) is 60 percent while the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) target is 80 percent literacy rate by 2015. it said that literacy remained much higher in urban areas comparatively to rural areas and higher among male than female.
According to the Economic Survey 2013-2014, “Province wise data suggests that Punjab leads with 62 percent followed by Sindh with 60 percent, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa with 52 percent and Balochistan have the lowest literacy rate of 44 percent.”
It further added that the overall education situation based on key indicators such as on enrolments, number of institutes and teachers, which has shown a slight improvement. At national level, the total number of enrolments during 2012-13 was estimated at 41.1 million as compared to 40.3 million during the same period last year.