On the basis of the 3-tier education system model, primary education is the first stage and lasts 5 years (grades 1 to 5) with children being admitted at the age of 5+; the second stage is middle level education (grades 6-8) and the last is secondary education (grades 9-12) (IBE 2011).  The gross enrolment ratio for primary education is 92% and for secondary education it is 34%. The transition rate from primary to secondary education is 74%.  Additionally, the highest number of drop-outs occur between grades 1 and 2 (UIS 2009). The 2009 National Education Policy document lists achieving the goal of universal and free primary education by 2015 and up to class 10 by 2025, as one of its policy actions at the federal level (Government of Pakistan 2009).  

Access to primary and secondary education remains an obstacle for Pakistan. The gross enrolment ratio (GER) is 92% and the net enrolment ratio (NER) is 72% (UIS 2009). Basic education in Pakistan still strives to reach the un-reached and under-served, which includes girls, women, children, ethnic and/or minority groups and the poor in rural and remote areas. In regards to location, gross enrolment rates in urban areas have always been higher than in rural ones. One source shows the NER ranging between 68% in urban Punjab and merely 33% in rural Balochistan (2007). Gender disparity is found throughout rural areas while in urban areas, student enrolment remains more or less balanced between boys and girls.  Due to higher levels of awareness, coupled with certain policy measures which focused on female education especially in rural areas, the Social Action Programme (SAP) narrowed the gender gap remarkably during the 1990s.  Data on enrolment at the primary level displays an increase in the proportion of girl’s vis-à-vis boys in both urban as well as in rural areas during the 1990s (UNESCO 2007).   In 2009, the overall GER for boys was 101% and 83% for girls, compared to the previous 86% and 58% of 2002 (UIS 2009).  

Primary education suffers from a number of deficiencies and shortcomings in Pakistan. Most primary schools, especially in rural areas, do not have proper physical facilities and their retention rate is very poor. Examinations are held annually at the school level, and they are the sole criterion to promote students to higher grades or to retain them in the same grade.  Learning levels are weak, mainly due to low teacher competencies, heavy teacher workload, lack of adequate supplies and lack of resources for teachers. At the secondary level, Pakistan has administered a sample assessment test to a small number of students. The test results showed weaknesses in several areas, such as competencies/skills of writing and comprehension in languages, problem-solving and sums involving use of currency and conversion in the subject of mathematics, and life skills knowledge in the subjects of science/general knowledge. Without a better assessment programme, Pakistan is at a disadvantage to improving the quality of education.  Policy leaders have acknowledged this deficiency and have committed to enhancing the country’s National Education Assessment System as a key component in the Education Policy of 1998-10 and the Education Sector Reforms Action Plan of 2002-06 (IBE 2011).  

Additionally, Deeni madrassahs, or religious schools, numbering about 10,000 in the country with an enrolment of about 1.5 million children and adolescents, have been growing rapidly with very little government influence. Informal sources reveal that at the basic levels, the quality of teaching is poor as teachers are usually untrained, lack motivation and are either underpaid or not paid at all.  There is also an absence of teaching material and teaching aids (UNESCO 2007).

Since 2001, most of the educational planning and decision-making takes place at the district level. The Provincial Education Departments are headed by their respective Provincial Education Ministers. The civil servant in charge of the department is the Provincial Education Secretary. The provinces are further divided into districts for the purpose of administration. The head of the Education Department in a district is the Executive District Officer (EDO) (MoE 2003). The Federal Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education (FBISE), an autonomous body of the Ministry of Education, is empowered with administrative and financial authority to organize, regulate, develop and control secondary education in general, and conduct examinations in the institutions affiliated with it. The Inter-Board Committee of Chairmen (IBCC) oversees the 26 boards of secondary education (IBE 2011). 

The Government’s top priority is to reach the goals of universal primary education and increase enrolment of secondary education by 50%. It plans to achieve the targets set under the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) for universal primary education (UPE), and literacy and promotion of gender equality and empowerment under EFA.  Revision and upgrading of curricula and infrastructure in existing institutions will continue to be a key activity at all levels (UNESCO 2007). The Government also gives high priority to expanding basic educational opportunity to its entire people and to improve the quality of teaching personnel. Many national strategies are set out to achieve these goals by focusing on increasing government accountability, building capacity and equitable access to quality education (PETF n.d.).