Pakistan’s spending on education remains far below global standards, with combined federal and provincial expenditures in the first nine months of FY 2025 (July–March) accounting for just 0.8 percent of the country’s GDP.
During this period, education-related spending dropped significantly by 29.4 percent, falling to Rs899.6 billion from Rs1,251.06 billion the previous year.
This sharp decline comes at a time when the country is already grappling with serious issues in literacy, school attendance, and the state of educational facilities.
Most countries invest between 4 to 6 percent of their GDP in education, making Pakistan’s current allocation worryingly low.
Experts and policymakers have voiced concerns, warning that this level of funding could severely hamper the country’s progress on both national education goals and international commitments such as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
While the government continues to speak of education as a key pillar for social and economic development, the ground reality reflects a lack of sufficient support.
The impact is evident: millions of children are still out of school, literacy rates have shown little improvement, and many government-run schools are without basic amenities like electricity and safe drinking water.