UK helps over 200,000 children improve reading and numeracy in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
More than 35,000 out-of-school children returned to education thanks to a UK partnership with the governments of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab.
UK collaboration with provincial governments has helped more than 200,000 children in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa improve their access to schooling, basic reading, numeracy and life skills. Urdu reading levels rose from 15% to 78%, English reading from 15% to 45%, and subtraction skills from 37% to 67%.
Support through the UK-Pakistan partnership used learning-level assessments, targeted instruction, teacher coaching and regular progress tracking to help children catch up. The programme reached over 500 public schools, enabling over 35,000 out-of-school children to return to education.
Beyond helping children return to school, the programme supported 48,000 learners through remedial education, strengthened teaching capacity through the training of more than 5,500 educators and 250 master trainers, and improved facilities in 400 schools.
British High Commissioner Jane Marriott, CMG OBE, said:
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 Punjab Education Curriculum Training and Assessment Authority (PECTAA), said:
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, Elementary and Secondary Education, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, said:
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.