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  Education:
Education in Pakistan is in a deplorable state where over 11 million children are out of school, and from those who attend school only 50% of them successfully complete primary education while the rest drop out in the first two years. Many children do not have access to schools, and if they do, their schools lack facilities and have out dated curriculum. Funding for education is inadequate and poorly utilized; where public expenditure during the 90’s averaged 2.3% of the GNP which is significantly less than 4% recommended by UNESCO. Furthermore in terms of equity, the gap between rural urban and rich poor has increased.

Graph 1

Graph 1 indicates Net enrolment ratio (NER) or Gross enrolment ratio (GER) falling enrollment rates of male and female preschool children; where females have a lower enrollment of 40% in 2004 as compared to around 47% for male children. Furthermore teacher pupil ratios are falling in primary education while they are increasing in the secondary schools; although younger children require more attention and care. Also the expenditure on education

Graph 2
Graph 3

Lack of investment in the education sector by the government has become a persistent feature of the education sector. However the education sector faces other challenges besides lack of funds as illustrated graph 4 there are other disparities that need to be addressed. For instance gender disparity exists in the urban and rural areas where the rural female has 14% lesser chance of getting enrolled than the rural male child. According to Graph 5 compared rural urban areas according to the Gender Parity Index in urban areas is 0.95 whereas it is 0.75 in rural areas. The situation is comparatively better in the urban areas where this difference reduces to around 3%. Another aspect of education is the increasing gap between the rural and urban areas where average attendance for urban areas is 72% as compared to a mere 52% in rural areas. Graph 6 accentuates the urban rural difference in overall attendance of about 10% in primary school.

Graph 4
Graph 5
Graph 6
Graph 7

Source: UNICEF, Division of Policy and Planning.

  Health and Nutrition

The following tables are adapted form UNICEF country statistics for Pakistan.

Health %
% of population using improved drinking water sources, 2004, total 91
% of population using improved drinking water sources, 2004, urban 96
% of population using improved drinking water sources, 2004, rural 89
% of population using adequate sanitation facilities, 2004, total 59
% of population using adequate sanitation facilities, 2004, urban 92
% of population using adequate sanitation facilities, 2004, rural 41
% of routine EPI vaccines financed by government, 2005, total 61
Immunization 2005, 1-year-old children immunized against: TB, corresponding vaccines: BCG 82
Immunization 2005, 1-year-old children immunized against: DPT, corresponding vaccines: DPT1? 84
Immunization 2005, 1-year-old children immunized against: DPT, corresponding vaccines: DPT3? 72
Immunization 2005, 1-year-old children immunized against: Polio, corresponding vaccines: polio3 77
Immunization 2005, 1-year-old children immunized against: Measles, corresponding vaccines: measles 78
Immunization 2005, 1-year-old children immunized against: HepB, corresponding vaccines: HepB3 73
Immunization 2005- newborns protected against tetanus 57
% under-fives with suspected pneumonia, 1999-2005* 16
% under-fives with suspected pneumonia taken to health-care provider± 66
% under-fives with diarrhoea receiving oral rehydration and continued feeding, 1998-2005* 33


Nutrition %
% of infants with low birth weight, 1998-2005* 19
% of children (1996-2005*) who are: exclusively breastfed (<6 months) 16
% of children (1996-2005*) who are: breastfed with complementary food (6-9 months) 56
% of under-fives (1996-2005*) suffering from: underweight, moderate & severe 38
% of under-fives (1996-2005*) suffering from: underweight, severe 13
% of under-fives (1996-2005*) suffering from: wasting, moderate & severe 13
% of under-fives (1996-2005*) suffering from: stunting, moderate & severe 37
Vitamin A supplementation coverage rate (6-59 months), 2004 95
% of households consuming iodized salt, 1998-2005* 17