Sindh is Pakistan’s second-largest province with a population of 50 million. Despite being the country’s most urbanized province with the highest per capita output, poverty persists. As a result, socioeconomic progress has been lagging. One factor is the lack of widespread education for Sindh’s children. In 2001, primary school enrollment was only 40 percent.
The Government of Sindh launched the Sindh Education Sector Reform Program (SERP) in 2006 with the objective of improving access, equity, and quality in the education sector. IDA initial support came in the form of a programmatic investment credit, and then the Sindh Education Sector Project, which is slated to run from 2009 to 2011. Program initiatives include infrastructure rehabilitation of shelterless schools and missing facilities, merit-based recruitment of new teachers, delivery of girls’ stipends and textbooks, and formation of a public-private partnership to increase access in underserved rural localities. At the same time, system reforms aim to improve statewide capacity — in fiscal management, education management, and training and professional development of teachers. A high-level government commitment — particularly participation from leaders of education, finance, planning, and other key departments — has proved to be a key factor driving the reform program.
Net primary enrollment in Sindh increased by 25 percent between 2002 and 2007 — from 40 to 50 percent. Gender parity got a big boost with girls’ enrollment increasing by more than 45 percent; the transition of rural girls from primary to secondary school jumped from 42 percent in 2006 to 51 percent in 2008.
Highlights:
- Organized for progress. Over 20,000 school management committees readied for activation.
- Education budget increased.The sector budget increased by 80 percent in three years.
- Capacity strengthened. Reforms in education management approved to introduce a new management structure with job descriptions, training, and a new appraisal system. More than 35,000 public schools received free textbooks in the 2007/08 academic year. There has been improved timeliness and quality of annual school census.
- School rehab improved. Increased accountability for public works through signing of performance-based monitoring and financing agreements between the province and the district governments. Third-party construction supervision firm contracted to supervise school construction and rehabilitation and certify the quality of these works.
- Girls’ stipends worked. More than 250,000 eligible girls received annual stipends in 2007/08 academic year.
- Rural pilot made impact. Two hundred schools were identified and selected in underserved rural localities and fully funded under pilot public-private partnership.
- Better teachers, more teachers. More than 5,000 teachers were hired under merit-based, school-specific teacher recruitment policy. New teacher certification system was launched.
IDA’s Sindh Education Sector Project is contributing US$300 million to finance about 15 percent of the provincial government’s total education budget during the three-year period starting in 2009. Under the earlier IDA credit, an initial US$100 million went to support educational reforms in 2007. IDA support enabled continued policy dialogue to build on previous reform and was strengthened by the technical guidance provided by the IDA team on reform initiatives. In this sector approach, the disbursement of IDA funds is tied to the achievement of specified implementation actions undertaken by the government. Furthermore, IDA leveraged support from other development partners, notably the European Commission’s Euro 39 million commitment for the province’s education reform program.
Access, equity, and quality in primary and secondary education remain a challenge in Sindh. An estimated 11 million children, ages 5 to 14, were still out of school in 2007. Only 53 percent of individuals, ages 17 to 21, have completed secondary schooling. Assessment data shows that average learning levels in key subjects such as mathematics and language are significantly below official curriculum standards. These shortfalls are greater for girls, rural children, and, in particular, poor children. To address these continuing challenges, the Sindh government has strengthened the design and implementation — including monitoring and evaluation — of key components of SERP. The ultimate goal is to strengthen fiscal sustainability and effectiveness of public expenditures in education, education sector management, access to quality schooling particularly for rural children and girls, and quality of teaching and student learning.
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