On Feb. 13, the United States and Pakistan announced a new joint venture, the Pakistan Reading Project, a five-year, $160 million plan to improve the reading skills of 3.2 million children throughout the country. The project aims to improve the quality of education in 38,000 Pakistani schools, and the skills of 94,00 teachers. “The launch of the Pakistan Reading Project represents a long term commitment from the IRC [International Rescue Committee] and USAID to reach 3.2 million children with improved reading programs and ensure that 2.5 million of them are reading at grade level,” said John Keys, senior vice president of international programs at the IRC.
Pakistan’s literacy rate, standing at 55 per cent, is among the lowest in the world, ranking 113 among 120 nations surveyed by UNESCO. Timo Pakkala, UN Resident Coordinator in Pakistan said, “Education is one of the key priority areas of the government of Pakistan.” Pakistani enrollment rates are also among the highest in the world—only 66 per cent of children attend primary school, and 7.2 million children are not enrolled in primary school.
Despite an educational system that has underperformed and is corrupt and in disarray, there have been improvements in increasing the literacy rate especially in rural areas of the country. The Pakistan Literacy Project aims at a holistic approach to literacy gains, targeting schools, universities, and expanding English skills for more than 5,000 low-income students. “We are hopeful that [the] Pakistan Reading Project… will assist our government’s efforts to improve the prevailing situation by reaching out to 4 million primary school children and providing them with the opportunity to enhance their reading skills,” said Minister for State Education, Training and Standards in Higher Education ENG Muhammad Bligh-Ur-Rehman.
Creative Commons Love: DFID – UK Department for International Development on Flickr.com
Written by Alex Leedom