The relation of cost and quality of education in Pakistan

Research shows that the relation between cost and quality of education in Pakistan is directly proportional i.e., with higher cost, better quality of education is provided and vice versa. That statement understandably creates a question in mind. How does one measure the quality of education? It is not entirely possible to measure the quality of education in numeric terms hence following indicators are adopted to examine the said quality: curriculum, character education, higher education, and employment rate. Data from the research provides following information regarding the fee charges for both private and publics educational institutes:

A private school’s fee includes:

• 8% Tuition
• 4% for training
• 4% for co-curriculars
• 6% for infrastructure
• 8% for exposure

Whereas a public school’s fee is 100% tuition.

Keeping this in mind, private educational institutes therefore, charge a higher fee because it includes all the above-mentioned facilities. As the cost of education becomes higher than public schools it is understood that quality of education is better in private educational institutes.

The same research further delves into the educational gap between the two genders. The reason explored for this gender disparity in education is that the parents realize the fact that a girl’s education is likely to only benefit some other family in the future.

Furthermore, information suggests that in 2019, the enrollment rate in public schools increased and enrollment in private schools decreased, both by 7%. As this seems to oppose the above analysis made on cost and quality of education in public and private schools, the ultimate question stands. ‘Has the quality of public education actually increased or is it a mere rational response to the constantly increasing inflation rates of the country?’

Research paper cited

Hassan, D. (2021). The cost of education. CBER Conference. Retrieved from https://ir.iba.edu.pk/esdcber/ 2021/day3/19

Author: Javeria Khalid