Course: Educational Management and Supervision (6502)
Semester: Spring, 2022
ASSIGNMENT No. 1
Q. 1 Discuss the issues of financing in educational planning. Give your suggestions to improve financial
constrains in educational planning in Pakistan.
Investment in secondary schooling has been overlooked since the Jomtien World Conference on Education for
All in 1990. Development partners have prioritized the universalization of primary education over investment at
other levels. The Millennium Development Goals reinforced this preference in development financing and the
Fast Track Initiative also reinforced what can be seen as an unbalanced strategy of educational development.
There are at least six reasons why investment at secondary level is central to development. First, the output of
primary school systems is set to increase by 200% or more over the next 10 years as UPE and completion is
approached. This will create large unmet demand for secondary places with consequences for political stability
arising from unmet aspirations and for equity. Second, the progress towards the MDGs requires an adequate
flow of qualified secondary graduates into primary teaching which will be compromised where secondary
output is small. It also depends on sustained demand for primary schooling which will falter if transition rates
into secondary fall. Third, HIV and AIDS have decimated the active labour force and undermined prospects for
economic growth in some SSA countries. Several studies point to evidence that those with secondary schooling
are less at risk than those with lower levels of educational achievement. The human capital that has been lost
has to be replenished if prospects for recovery are to bear fruit and this requires more than basic education.
Fourth, poverty reduction will stall unless income distribution improves. Successful completion of secondary
schooling is becoming the major mechanism for allocating life chances in much of SSA, acting as a filter for
access to better paid livelihoods and occupations. Fifth, competitiveness, especially in high value-added and
knowledge-based sectors of the economy, depends on knowledge, skills and competencies associated with
abstract reasoning, analysis, language and communication skills, and the application of science and technology.
These are most efficiently acquired through secondary schooling. Sixth, curriculum reform at secondary level is
essential both because it has been widely neglected and because expanded access will enrol children with
different learning needs and capabilities. Increased participation without more relevant, effective and efficient
learning and teaching will not be fit for purpose and may create more problems than it solves.
The implementation of the right to education requires funding in order to build schools, pay teachers’ salaries
and training, provide teaching materials, etc.
Under international law, states have the obligation to use the maximum of their available resources to realise the
right to education. Even when a state’s resources are very limited, it is obliged to prioritise certain immediate
obligations, such as the introduction of free primary education and to guarantee education for all without
discrimination. It is also obliged to provide progressively free secondary and higher education and to
continuously improve the quality of education. This means that it must take immediate and progressive steps to
fully realise the right to education and must not take retrogressive measures.
1
, Course: Educational Management and Supervision (6502)
Semester: Spring, 2022
To implement the right to education effectively, states should ensure that a sufficient proportion of the national
budget is allocated to education financing and that the money is used effectively and equitably to guarantee
education for all, as well as redress inequalities.
Pakistan faces a huge gap in financing education aims. The 2014 Education for All Global Monitoring
Report estimates that Pakistan is among a small group of lower-middle-income countries that will need to
roughly double relative spending on basic education to reach the goals by 2030, which would mean an increase
in the proportion of GDP allocations to basic education by a factor of three. Currently the country spends no
more than 2 percent of GDP on education, one of the lowest shares globally. The pledge to increase allocation
to 4 percent of GDP has been repeated at the highest levels of government since 1992. While spending on
education has increased in real terms in recent years, the absolute amount spent remains far below levels that
are required to meet targets for access to quality education for all.
In order to improve financing for education, Pakistan needs to focus on two areas: increasing available domestic
resources, and implementing a needs-based formula for the distribution of funding within provinces. The
achievement of these twin objectives requires a combination of strong political will and the technical capacity to
implement reforms effectively.
Increase in domestic resources. In order to spend more on education, Pakistan needs to generate additional
domestic resources by strengthening the tax base. The capacity of the government to generate income through
taxes is very weak at both the federal and provincial level. The tax to GDP ratio in Pakistan has remained below
10 percent for the past decade, among the lowest in the world. According to the 2014 Education for All Global
Monitoring report, if the Pakistani government increased its tax revenue to 14 percent of GDP and allocated
one-fifth of this to education, it could raise sufficient funds to get all of Pakistan’s children and adolescents into
school. The ability to increase taxes is constrained by two interlinked factors: a lack of political will for
instituting a progressive tax regime, and the need for comprehensive technocratic reforms to enhance tax
collection mechanisms.
With federal transfers making up about 90 percent of the total provincial income, the need for reform of the
federal tax machinery is clear. If properly designed and implemented, provincial taxes can be an important
source of revenue. While the provinces raise their own taxes, on the whole this capacity is limited. On average,
around just 10 percent of receipts obtained through tax revenue is retained at the provincial level. Transferring
responsibility to the provinces increases the incentives for improving the efficiency of tax collection. Any
reform needs to be balanced against the current system of need-based resource redistribution, recognizing that
poorer provinces have fewer opportunities to raise tax revenue. Getting the right balance for provincial
incentives and redistribution is crucial.
At the moment the tax regime in Pakistan is regressive, with heavy reliance on sales taxes and on taxing salaried
income, burdening low and middle-income households. Tax reform remains a huge public policy hurdle, with
little will within the parliament to introduce comprehensive tax reforms that bring big business and big
2
Semester: Spring, 2022
ASSIGNMENT No. 1
Q. 1 Discuss the issues of financing in educational planning. Give your suggestions to improve financial
constrains in educational planning in Pakistan.
Investment in secondary schooling has been overlooked since the Jomtien World Conference on Education for
All in 1990. Development partners have prioritized the universalization of primary education over investment at
other levels. The Millennium Development Goals reinforced this preference in development financing and the
Fast Track Initiative also reinforced what can be seen as an unbalanced strategy of educational development.
There are at least six reasons why investment at secondary level is central to development. First, the output of
primary school systems is set to increase by 200% or more over the next 10 years as UPE and completion is
approached. This will create large unmet demand for secondary places with consequences for political stability
arising from unmet aspirations and for equity. Second, the progress towards the MDGs requires an adequate
flow of qualified secondary graduates into primary teaching which will be compromised where secondary
output is small. It also depends on sustained demand for primary schooling which will falter if transition rates
into secondary fall. Third, HIV and AIDS have decimated the active labour force and undermined prospects for
economic growth in some SSA countries. Several studies point to evidence that those with secondary schooling
are less at risk than those with lower levels of educational achievement. The human capital that has been lost
has to be replenished if prospects for recovery are to bear fruit and this requires more than basic education.
Fourth, poverty reduction will stall unless income distribution improves. Successful completion of secondary
schooling is becoming the major mechanism for allocating life chances in much of SSA, acting as a filter for
access to better paid livelihoods and occupations. Fifth, competitiveness, especially in high value-added and
knowledge-based sectors of the economy, depends on knowledge, skills and competencies associated with
abstract reasoning, analysis, language and communication skills, and the application of science and technology.
These are most efficiently acquired through secondary schooling. Sixth, curriculum reform at secondary level is
essential both because it has been widely neglected and because expanded access will enrol children with
different learning needs and capabilities. Increased participation without more relevant, effective and efficient
learning and teaching will not be fit for purpose and may create more problems than it solves.
The implementation of the right to education requires funding in order to build schools, pay teachers’ salaries
and training, provide teaching materials, etc.
Under international law, states have the obligation to use the maximum of their available resources to realise the
right to education. Even when a state’s resources are very limited, it is obliged to prioritise certain immediate
obligations, such as the introduction of free primary education and to guarantee education for all without
discrimination. It is also obliged to provide progressively free secondary and higher education and to
continuously improve the quality of education. This means that it must take immediate and progressive steps to
fully realise the right to education and must not take retrogressive measures.
1
, Course: Educational Management and Supervision (6502)
Semester: Spring, 2022
To implement the right to education effectively, states should ensure that a sufficient proportion of the national
budget is allocated to education financing and that the money is used effectively and equitably to guarantee
education for all, as well as redress inequalities.
Pakistan faces a huge gap in financing education aims. The 2014 Education for All Global Monitoring
Report estimates that Pakistan is among a small group of lower-middle-income countries that will need to
roughly double relative spending on basic education to reach the goals by 2030, which would mean an increase
in the proportion of GDP allocations to basic education by a factor of three. Currently the country spends no
more than 2 percent of GDP on education, one of the lowest shares globally. The pledge to increase allocation
to 4 percent of GDP has been repeated at the highest levels of government since 1992. While spending on
education has increased in real terms in recent years, the absolute amount spent remains far below levels that
are required to meet targets for access to quality education for all.
In order to improve financing for education, Pakistan needs to focus on two areas: increasing available domestic
resources, and implementing a needs-based formula for the distribution of funding within provinces. The
achievement of these twin objectives requires a combination of strong political will and the technical capacity to
implement reforms effectively.
Increase in domestic resources. In order to spend more on education, Pakistan needs to generate additional
domestic resources by strengthening the tax base. The capacity of the government to generate income through
taxes is very weak at both the federal and provincial level. The tax to GDP ratio in Pakistan has remained below
10 percent for the past decade, among the lowest in the world. According to the 2014 Education for All Global
Monitoring report, if the Pakistani government increased its tax revenue to 14 percent of GDP and allocated
one-fifth of this to education, it could raise sufficient funds to get all of Pakistan’s children and adolescents into
school. The ability to increase taxes is constrained by two interlinked factors: a lack of political will for
instituting a progressive tax regime, and the need for comprehensive technocratic reforms to enhance tax
collection mechanisms.
With federal transfers making up about 90 percent of the total provincial income, the need for reform of the
federal tax machinery is clear. If properly designed and implemented, provincial taxes can be an important
source of revenue. While the provinces raise their own taxes, on the whole this capacity is limited. On average,
around just 10 percent of receipts obtained through tax revenue is retained at the provincial level. Transferring
responsibility to the provinces increases the incentives for improving the efficiency of tax collection. Any
reform needs to be balanced against the current system of need-based resource redistribution, recognizing that
poorer provinces have fewer opportunities to raise tax revenue. Getting the right balance for provincial
incentives and redistribution is crucial.
At the moment the tax regime in Pakistan is regressive, with heavy reliance on sales taxes and on taxing salaried
income, burdening low and middle-income households. Tax reform remains a huge public policy hurdle, with
little will within the parliament to introduce comprehensive tax reforms that bring big business and big
2
