{"id":950,"date":"2026-02-02T08:59:40","date_gmt":"2026-02-02T08:59:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.worldwatchalert.com\/?p=950"},"modified":"2026-02-02T08:59:41","modified_gmt":"2026-02-02T08:59:41","slug":"fafen-flags-slow-progress-in-pakistans-literacy-levels","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.worldwatchalert.com\/?p=950","title":{"rendered":"FAFEN Flags Slow Progress in Pakistan\u2019s Literacy Levels"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

ISLAMABAD:<\/strong> Pakistan continues to rank lowest in South Asia on literacy, with only 63% of people aged 10 and above able to read and write, according to a new review released by the Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The analysis, based on data from the Pakistan Social and Living Standards Measurement\u2013Household Integrated Economic Survey (PSLM\u2013HEIS) 2024\u201325 and World Bank regional figures, shows literacy in Pakistan has increased by just three percentage points over the past six years, from 60% in 2018\u201319 to 63% in 2024\u201325.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

FAFEN described the progress as slow for a country with a population exceeding 240 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In regional comparison, the Maldives leads South Asia with literacy above 98%, followed by Sri Lanka at 93%, India at 87% and Bangladesh at 79%. Nepal stands at 68% and Bhutan at 65%, while the South Asian average is 78% \u2014 about 15 percentage points higher than Pakistan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The review also highlighted wide disparities across gender and provinces. Male literacy stands at 73%, compared with 54% among women. Punjab recorded the highest provincial rate at 68%, while Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were both at 58%. Balochistan remained the lowest at 49%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Youth literacy for those aged 15 to 24 was reported at 77%, but overall adult literacy for people aged 15 and above stood at 60%, indicating persistent gaps among older populations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

FAFEN noted that the survey defines a literate person as someone aged 10 or above who can read and understand a simple statement and write a basic sentence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The organisation also pointed to Article 25A of the Constitution, which guarantees free and compulsory education for children aged five to 16, and said Pakistan remains bound by education targets under the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan continues to rank lowest in South Asia on literacy, with only 63% of people aged 10 and above able to read and write, according to a new review… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":951,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[889,891,888,890,892],"class_list":["post-950","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pakistan","tag-fafen-report","tag-literacy-rate-pakistan","tag-pakistan-education-crisis","tag-pslm-survey","tag-south-asia-education-rankings"],"yoast_head":"\nFAFEN Flags Slow Progress in Pakistan\u2019s Literacy Levels - World Watch Alert<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Pakistan remains South Asia\u2019s lowest-ranked country for literacy at 63%, with wide gender and provincial gaps, a FAFEN review shows.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.worldwatchalert.com\/?p=950\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"FAFEN Flags Slow Progress in Pakistan\u2019s Literacy Levels - 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