Punjab Needs Rs135bn to Reach 90% Literacy by 2035, Data Shows

Punjab will require an estimated Rs135 billion in investment through 2035 to raise its literacy rate to 90 per cent, according to data from the provincial Literacy and Non-Formal Basic Education Department. The figures highlight the scale of the education challenge facing Pakistan's most populous province, where authorities are dealing simultaneously with millions of children outside school and a large adult population unable to read or write.

The department's data puts the number of out-of-school children in Punjab at about 9.6 million, while approximately 26.8 million adults are described as illiterate. A particularly difficult segment is the large number of children aged between eight and 16 who have fallen behind the normal school-entry cycle. Officials consider non-formal education an important mechanism for reaching these overage learners because conventional schools cannot easily absorb all of them at appropriate grade levels.

Punjab has already developed a sizeable non-formal education network. Departmental figures show 20,273 non-formal schools serving more than 593,000 children, alongside 1,260 adult literacy centres operating across all 36 districts. Programmes in central, northern and southern Punjab collectively target more than 800,000 learners, extending educational opportunities to both children who missed formal schooling and adults seeking basic literacy skills.

Literacy and Non-Formal Basic Education Department Director General Asim Javed said the proposed Rs135bn requirement would support the province's targets through 2035. Planned spending covers the expansion of non-formal schools, training for teachers, learning material and the establishment of additional adult literacy centres. The department is pursuing an accelerated model intended to give learners a faster route through basic education than would normally be available through the formal system.

Under the Accelerated Learning Programme, elementary-level studies can be completed in about 18 months, compared with a longer cycle in conventional schooling, while adult literacy courses are designed to be completed in roughly six months. Authorities have also connected literacy initiatives with employment-oriented learning by introducing 13 technical trades and linking some adult education programmes with sectors including agriculture, health and mining. The approach is intended to make basic education more relevant for people whose economic circumstances make lengthy classroom programmes difficult.

Officials also reported signs of improvement in progression through the non-formal system. The number of primary-level graduates has increased from 12,055 in 2019 to more than 29,000 annually, while 470 schools have been upgraded to elementary level. The province says digital monitoring and performance systems are being used to track educational delivery and improve accountability as the programme expands.

Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz, marking International Literacy Day, said the provincial government was giving particular attention to digital literacy among young people and regarded access to education as a government responsibility. The next major challenge will be securing the financing required for expansion and translating the 2035 target into sustained enrolment, retention and learning gains. With millions of children and adults still outside effective education systems, Punjab's progress will have significant implications for Pakistan's wider literacy, workforce-development and human-capital goals.