Households outspend govt on education

For the first time in Pakistan's history, household spending on education — amounting to Rs2.8 trillion — has exceeded government investment of Rs 2.23 trillion.

The finding, unveiled at the National Policy Dialogue to launch the Institute of Social and Policy Sciences' (I-SAPS) 15th annual report on Public Financing of Education on Tuesday, signalled a major shift in the country's education landscape.

Pakistani families are now bearing the majority of the Rs5.03 trillion total cost of education, raising serious questions around equity, access, and the state's responsibility in providing quality education for all, according to the findings of the report.

This is the first analysis in Pakistan to comprehensively account for both public budgets and household-level education spending.

According to I-SAPS, total education financing has reached Rs5.03 trillion. Of this, the public sector contributes Rs2.23 trillion, making up 44 per cent of the total. The remaining 56 per cent, amounting to Rs2.80 trillion, comes directly from households.

This includes Rs1.31 trillion spent on private school fees, Rs613 billion on shadow education and tuition, and Rs878 billion in other out-of-pocket costs.

"Families are financing education at a scale that raises fundamental equity concerns," said I-SAPS Executive Director Dr Salman Humayun.

"When household spending surpasses public investment, we must ask who is able to afford education and who is being excluded."

Speaking at the dialogue, Mazhar Siraj, education team leader at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), emphasised the need to move beyond input-heavy approaches.

He noted that outcome-based financing and efficiency reforms are critical, but innovative financing can only succeed where strong data systems and governance frameworks are in place.

World Bank Senior Education Specialist Izzah Farrukh stated that the expansion of private schooling reflects the failure of the public system to meet families' expectations.

She observed that this shift represents families opting out of public schools, where responsiveness, voice, and agency have weakened over time.

Dr Shahid Soroya, director general of the Pakistan Institute of Education, highlighted the importance of sustained evidence generation, and acknowledged the efforts of the federal ministry and development partners in strengthening annual education data consolidation.

Federal Secretary for Health Hamed Yaqoob Sheikh praised I-SAPS for introducing analytical frameworks that support more informed resource allocation across social sectors. He stressed the importance of independent research in supporting effective policy in fiscally constrained environments.