Pakistan

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Pakistan has a population of over 235 million people (World Bank, 2022).

COL’s work in Pakistan is primarily in the areas of higher education and girls’ and women’s training for livelihoods and benefits from programmes under the aegis of the Commonwealth Educational Media Centre for Asia (CEMCA). Learners from Pakistan are also participating in COL’s free, open online courses and benefitting from other available resources.

Participation rate of youth and adults in formal and non-formal education and training in the previous 12 months, 15-64 years old¹
8.4%		10.8%
Female (2021)		Male (2021)

Completion rate, lower secondary education for the school year ending in 2020¹
45.2%		50.9%
Female		Male

Gross enrolment ratio for tertiary education for the school year ending in 2019¹
12.1%		12.3%
Female		Male

Proportion of teachers with the minimum required qualifications in secondary education¹
n/a		n/a
Female		Male

1. UNESCO Institute for Statistics Data Centre, retrieved in May 2023

Highlights

221 policymakers and senior officials took gender equality and the prevention of gender-based violence training programmes to increase awareness and promote effective policies and strategies to address these issues.
Allama Iqbal Open University held a transformative faculty training programme on ”Empowering Educators: Integrating AI into Teaching Practice” for 37 higher education institutions in Pakistan.
5,066 learners from Pakistan enrolled in 23,440 COL-sponsored courses, with 9,302 certificates issued.

Partners

Partnerships are fundamental to COL’s work. Strategic partnerships allow COL to broaden its reach and engage at global, regional and national levels, while implementation partnerships support COL’s work in communities and institutions across Commonwealth Member States. Such partnerships include multilateral organisations, regional bodies, national governments, government agencies, foundations, civil society organisations, public and private (not-for-profit) institutions and the private sector. COL partnerships assist in improving and extending teaching and learning services to people in the developing Commonwealth.

COL’s partners in Pakistan include:

Higher Education Commission
Allama Iqbal Open University
Bedari
Fatima Jinnah Women University
Society for the Protection of the Rights of the Child
Virtual University of Pakistan

Literacy rate (2019)¹
46.5%		69.3%
Female, Adult (15+)		Male, Adult (15+)

Economic Activity – Labour Forces Participation (2020)¹
25.5%		83.9%
Female, Ages 15-64		Male, Ages 15-64

Political Decision Making (2018)¹
20.1%
Share of seats held by women in national parliament

Life expectancy (2023)¹
66.7		64.6
Female		Male

1. COL gender country profile October 2023

21	82
Individuals using the internet (%)¹	Mobile-cellular subscriptions per 100 inhabitants¹

1.3	47
Fixed-broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants¹	Active mobile-broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants¹




1. International Telecommunication Union (ITU), retrieved in May 2023.

Pakistan

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