Exploring variations in the relative technical efficiency in providing school education: a case study of Sindh, Pakistan

The Constitution of Pakistan has placed the responsibility for basic education in the State. In the 65 years of Pakistan, around 23 policies and action plans have been introduced with commitments to attaining universal primary education and other allied indicators. This has been evidenced by a series of activities aimed at boosting school enrolment and learning through significant though not sufficient allocations at the federal and provincial levels to education, currently standing at approximately 2 percent of GDP (approximately in the range of 25 to 30 percent of provincial budgets). Success has been limited; with the current state of education in Pakistan being dismal, characterized by low literacy and enrolment, acute regional and gender inequalities and poor learning levels. There are few if any chances of the country achieving the EFA goals. This is undoubtedly highly undesirable for a country of 180 million people, which is struggling to attain political stabilization and sustained economic growth for last many years. It is engulfed in a highly complex set of external and internal security challenges and which are expected to intensify in the post 2014 scenario subsequent to the departure of NATO forces from Afghanistan. Hence, improving the overall status on education is more a 'security issue' for Pakistan for ensuring not only peace and prosperity of its citizens but also its integrity and cohesion. This research paper encompasses various facets of education status in Pakistan, with emphasis on Sindh (the prime focus of this research), the second largest province in the country. The purpose of my research is to analyze the efficiency of the education resources and their impact on education. The aim of this study is to explore Variations in Relative Technical Efficiency in providing School Education in the province of Sindh, Pakistan. The methodology of this study has been determined with the aim of achieving the objectives defined in the research proposal. Econometric techniques have been used to build model for the analysis, which is based on panel data regressions for primary, middle and secondary education enrolment of 23 districts of Sindh in the period from 2005 to 2010. Estimations have been carried out using the fixed effect procedure as given in the STATA statistical package. Evidence from this study questions the efficacy of educational expenditure and finds no compelling evidence for the impact of education expenditure in case of primary level enrolment. Though the coefficient on public expenditures is positive and statistically significant but indicates a small impact on enrolment at primary level. The impact of education expenditures on the middle level and the secondary level is more pronounced. The coefficients for both these levels are statistically highly significant as well. The study finds that on an average; the mean efficiency for primary, middle and the secondary level are 39 percent, 64 percent and 75 percent respectively. The regression results from the production function that accounts for efficiency differences indicate that it costs less per students for efficient districts to achieve a set of standards. The present analysis reveals that it is not only the total allocation or expenditure but its utilization and management which determines the outcome