In 2010, UNICEF and the UNESCO Institute for Statistics
(UIS) launched a Global Initiative on Out-of-School
Children in 26 countries including Pakistan. The goal of
this initiative is to improve statistical information and
analysis of out-of-school children (OOSC) and to
scrutinize the factors leading to exclusion from
schooling and the policies related to enhancing
participation. As part of this global initiative, this
report aims to improve statistical information and
analysis of OOSC in Pakistan and guide concrete
education sector reforms in this regard. It develops
profiles of children who remain out of school,
investigates the major barriers to education, and
identifies the reasons why children in Pakistan drop
out of school.
The Five Dimensions of Exclusion (5DE) are used to
analyse the problem of OOSC. Dimension 1 represents
children of pre-primary school age who are not in preprimary
or primary education; for this study, this
covers children aged four years. Dimension 2 captures
the out-of-school population of primary-school-age
children not in primary or secondary education; this
covers children aged 5–9 years. Dimension 3 captures
OOSC in the lower-secondary-school age group not in
primary or secondary education; this covers children
aged 10–12 years. Dimension 4 covers children in
primary school who are considered at risk of dropping
out, and Dimension 5 covers children in lower
secondary school who are at risk of dropping out.
Exploring structural inequalities and linking them to
income poverty, exposure to child labour, conflict and
natural disasters, location (urban/rural), gender, etc.
can provide a useful basis not only for profiling OOSC
and developing an understanding of their barriers but
also for feeding into future policy after a review of
current strategies and programmes.
The main data source used in this report is the Pakistan
Social and Living Standards Measurement Survey
(PSLM) for 2007–08 and its associated Household
Integrated Economic Survey (HIES). The reason for
relying on this data source was the consistent
availability of all indicators required for calculations
defined in the Conceptual and Methodological
Framework used by this study. Other data sources
include the Labour Force Survey 2007/08, the Pakistan
Education Statistics 2008/09 compiled by the Academy
for Education Planning and Management, and the
Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) Punjab
flood-affected communities in Punjab and Sindh to
assess the impact of 2010 floods on children's
education. Furthermore, a multivariate regression
analysis of the determinants of child labour and
schooling was conducted.