More than 35,000 out-of-school children reintegrated into education through UK-Pakistan partnership

ISLAMABAD, AUG 24 /DNA/ – A UK-led initiative, in collaboration with the provincial governments of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), has significantly improved educational outcomes for over 200,000 children across Pakistan. The programme focused on enhancing access to schooling, basic reading, numeracy, and life skills, with remarkable results.

According to official data, Urdu reading levels among participating children surged from 15 percent to 78 percent, while English reading proficiency rose from 15 percent to 45 percent. Subtraction skills also saw a notable increase, climbing from 37 percent to 67 percent.

The partnership leveraged learning-level assessments, targeted instruction, teacher coaching, and regular progress tracking to help children catch up. The initiative reached over 500 public schools and successfully brought more than 35,000 out-of-school children back into the education system.

Beyond reintegration, the programme provided remedial education to 48,000 learners, strengthened teaching capacity by training over 5,500 educators and 250 Master Trainers, and improved facilities in 400 schools.

British High Commissioner Jane Marriott, CMG OBE, praised the initiative, stating: “Teachers are at the heart of improving learning outcomes for children, and the most important measure of success is whether they find these approaches valuable enough to continue using them. The feedback so far has been extremely encouraging. By bringing together governments, schools and communities, children who previously could not read a simple sentence are now reading independently.”

Muhammad Musa Ali Bokhari, CEO of the Punjab Education Curriculum Training and Assessment Authority (PECTAA), echoed this sentiment: “Every child in Punjab deserves the chance to read, write and count with confidence before they move beyond primary school. UK support has helped move the conversation on foundational learning from theory to demonstrated practice, here in Punjab.”

Masood Ahmed, Special Secretary for Elementary and Secondary Education in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, added: “The achievements of this UK-supported programme show that focused investments in foundational learning can produce meaningful results for children and communities. We remain committed to building on this progress and ensuring that every child has the opportunity to develop the literacy and numeracy skills that are essential for lifelong learning.”

The UK-Pakistan partnership continues to demonstrate the impact of collaborative efforts in transforming education and creating lasting opportunities for children across the region.