MAPPING THE ECOSYSTEM
Since 2003 we have worked to help researchers and policymakers understand the dynamic education landscape in Pakistan. All of our research studies start with understanding and mapping the education systems in which we work. We study the prevalence of private schools, the thriving after-school tuition market, the myths surrounding religious education, and the transition for students from school to the labor market. This work has produced data that is now the bedrock of much of our research: the LEAPS longitudinal study.
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2007 LEAPS Report
Image: Evidence for Policy Design
LEAPS was the first large-scale study to use an ecosystem-based approach to understanding the state of education. This landmark 2007 report introduced the idea of village-level samples and highlighted the learning crisis in Pakistan. Through our research and engagement with government and private stakeholders, we have influenced the discourse on education reform both in Pakistan and globally.
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How are children in Pakistan getting their education? What are their schooling options?
Are the gains in primary school enrollment since the 1990s reflected in learning?
What are the largest challenges facing the education system in Pakistan?
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Most households can choose between 7-8 schools in their village, including government and private schools.
Parents are active participants in their children’s schooling with 42% of Pakistani students choosing to attend low-cost private schools, where test scores are higher than in public schools.
Nevertheless, systematic frictions in the system imply that learning levels are low, despite rising school enrollments.
Religious School Enrollment in Pakistan
Image: Romero Maia, Wikimedia Commons
Historically, policy makers have expressed growing concern about Pakistan’s religious schools, which are commonly known as madrasas. These concerns have been fueled considerably by reports and articles in the popular press contending that madrasa enrollment is high and increasing. We use school and household data to examine whether madrasas are really growing in popularity.
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How has enrollment in schooling changed in the 1990s and early 2000s?
What is the proportion of students in madrasas compared to other school types, and how does the schooling market interact with religious enrollment?
How can these trends be explained using a school-choice framework?
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Enrollment in madrassas increased by only 16% in the 1990s —less than the increase in overall school enrollment, meaning the proportion of children in madrassas actually fell during this time period.
In most cases, madrasa enrollment is similar for students across all socioeconomic backgrounds.
Even when students have no access to schooling alternatives, their parents are more likely to withdraw them from school than to enroll them in madrasas.
A Dime a Day: Private Schooling in Pakistan
Image: Unsplash
Among our first major journal publications, the paper called “A Dime A Day” explores one of the key findings of the LEAPS 2008 report in more detail: the possibilities and limits of private schooling in Pakistan.
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What position do private schools occupy in Pakistan’s education sector? Which segments of society do they cater to?
What factors have influenced the growth of the low-cost private school market in Pakistan?
How does the quality of education provided by low-cost private schools compare to public schools?
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The share of Pakistani students enrolled in private schools has grown exponentially in the last few decades.
Private schools tend to hire teachers who are female, young, unmarried, and are less educated than public school teachers, and therefore can be paid lower wages.
Low-cost private schools in rural areas rely on the availability of educated women who have few alternative employment options.
Diagnosing the Education System
Image: World Bank
Policymakers in Pakistan are very active in implementing education reforms with the goal of improving learning outcomes. This study provides guidelines for future reforms by investigating why past reforms have failed.
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What kinds of education reforms has Pakistan undertaken over the past two decades?
Why have Pakistan’s education reforms failed to deliver improved levels of enrollment and student learning?
How can issues in accountability-autonomy relationships between stakeholders be resolved?
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Pakistan’s funding for education has grown tremendously over the past decade.
Despite reforms, enrollment still lags behind most countries in Asia and Africa, and growth in student test scores remains stagnant.
Improving the quality of education relies on striking a balance between authority and accountability.
The LEAPS Longitudinal Follow-Up
Image: World Bank
This study will be one of the first to shed light on the returns to education in a low-income country. We explore this topic by tracking over 6,000 students over 15 years, exploring the impact of schooling on early adult labor force outcomes, occupational choice, and family formation.
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How does early life experience affect individuals' labor market and family formation outcomes in the long run?
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15 years after the first LEAPS round, we interviewed 10,005 respondents who were children in 2003, at the time of the first LEAPS round.
We collected information on multiple aspects of their lives, including their labor market experience, marital situation and children, migration history as well as their cognitive and socio-emotional abilities.
The data allow us to see how the lives of young people in Pakistan have evolved as compared to their parents' generation.
The Market for Private Tuition
Image: shutterstock.com
Nationally representative surveys have shown that roughly 20% of children in Pakistan receive private tutoring. Despite tuition’s prevalent role in the education ecosystem, we know very little about what private tutoring actually entails and how children benefit from it.
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When students say they’re taking private tutoring, what services do they actually receive?
Who provides these informal tutoring services?
If tuition is effective, how can we help this market grow?
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80% of private tutoring occurs within the tutor’s home through informal arrangements.
Tutors appear to be overwhelmingly women with secondary degrees, constituting roughly half of all paid employment for these women.
Fees and a lack of knowledge of tutoring services prevent some students from accessing tuition.