This study uses multiple rounds of national household sample surveys to
examine the extent and nature of private school participation at the primary and
secondary levels in Pakistan. Today, one fifth of children in Pakistan—or one
third of all students—attend private school. Private school students tend to come
from urban, wealthier, and better-educated households than government school
students and especially out-of-school children. The characteristics of private
school students relative to their government school peers and the former’s
composition differ in important ways across Pakistan’s four provinces. Private
school participation among children varies largely from one household to another
rather than within households, and to a greater extent than government school
participation. Private schooling is spatially concentrated, with a few districts
(situated mainly in northern Punjab) accounting for most private school
students. The spatial distributions of private school supply and participation are
strongly correlated. In the 2000s, private school participation rates grew in
Punjab, Sindh, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and across socioeconomic subgroups,
contributing in particular to the growth in overall school participation rates for
boys, urban children, and rich children. Nevertheless, the composition of private
school students has become more equitable, driven mainly by Punjab, where the
shares of private school students from rural and nonrich households have risen.