Pakistan: In his address on World Literacy Day, Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif underlined the critical role that education plays in social involvement, economic opportunity, and empowerment. The state of literacy in Pakistan is still a big concern. With a 59.13% literacy rate as of 2024, the nation continues to face significant obstacles in improving education for all of its residents.

Today is International Literacy Day, which is being marked throughout the world, including in Pakistan, to draw attention to the need of education for the millions of illiterate people on the planet.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) organises the annual September 8 celebration, which emphasises the need for increased access to education and literacy.

Prime Minister remarked, “Literacy is a basic human and constitutional right, and education and literacy are the only ways through which Pakistan can progress.”

In honour of the occasion, Prime Minister Shehbaz reiterated the government’s dedication to pushing the education agenda with the goal of giving Pakistan a better educated and sustainable future.

“Education is the backbone of our society,” he emphasised. We have started midday meals for kids in schools, started an enrolment drive for students, and proclaimed an emergency in education across the nation in order to achieve this goal.

In order to prepare the next generation for success in the digital economy, PM Shehbaz also emphasised the significance of fostering technological literacy, pointing out that the government is putting a comprehensive plan into action to incorporate technology into the educational system.

Pakistan’s crisis in education

According to a recent survey published by the Pak Alliance for Maths and Science (PAMS), 36% of Pakistan’s school-age population, or 25.3 million children, are not in school.

According to the report “The Missing Third of Pakistan,” 51% of children aged 5 to 9 have never attended school, and 74% of these children reside in rural regions.

A notable gender gap is also evident in the data, with females making up 53% of children who are not in school.