PESRP Introduction

To increase access to education by allocating more financial resources at the Provincial & District level, to support devolution and public sector management reforms and to improve governance, access and the quality of education system in the Punjab.

During 1990s, Pakistan Government faced serious financial crunch due to various domestic and international factors. This financial crunch resulted in suppressed outlays for the social sectors including education. In Punjab Province, public sector schools experienced sluggish enrolment growth rates to the extent that in the year 2003, 46% of the total children, who should have had been in the schools, were out of schools. Enrolment growth had been rather stagnant (enrolment growth rate in public schools remained 1.5% per annum in the decade preceding the PESRP) and the goal of moving towards achievement of MDGs was beginning to look more and more challenging.

PESRP was initially started for a time span of three years to improve the quality and efficiency of education sector with a cost of Rs.21.7 Billion. Tremendous efforts, for improving access to education, have been made. Incentives such as provision of missing infrastructure, free textbooks, stipends to the girl students have been undertaken to ensure increase in enrolments. Keeping in view results of the programme, it has been extended for a period of another three years.

On the onset of the programme, the Punjab Government established Programme Monitoring & Implementation Unit to oversee the monitoring and evaluation systems for the public sector education. In a remarkably short time, the PMIU has developed a robust monitoring system that is independently scrutinized by a system of periodic Third Party Validations (TPVs) and helps continuous monitoring, evaluation and analyses of various inputs of the reform programme.