Punjab is making headway narrowing the gender gap in educational achievements where the girls consistently outperformed boys in all subjects and grades, including maths.
This was revealed in the results of the National Achievement Test (NAT) 2023 conducted by the Pakistan Institute of Education (PIE) and released here in a ceremony at a local hotel.
Punjab Minister for School Education Rana Sikandar Hayat , Pakistan Institute of Education (PIE) Director General Dr. Shahid Soroya, Member Punjab Assembly Amina Hassan Sheikh, Dr Nasir Mehmood from Punjab Examination Commission (PEC), educationist Dr Azma Yousaf, Dr Jessica from Lahore University for Management Sciences (LUMS), Dr Abbas Rasheed and Dr Afaf from University of Education also were present on the occasion.
According to the result report , over 7,000 students from nearly 380 public schools in Punjab participated in the NAT 2023, providing a revealing snapshot of student learning across the province. The findings also offer a springboard for further improvement and highlight areas where targeted interventions can yield significant impact. The data also pinpoints areas demanding focused attention. Maths scores across both grades fell below than those achieved in Urdu and English.
Grade 4 students encountered the most difficulty in statistics and probability, a trend mirrored by grade 8 students in the same content domain. Science proficiency also showed room for improvement, with the highest average score being 66 percent for grade 8 students in rural schools, the report added. A trend emerged when examining performance by gender in Punjab, the girls consistently outperformed boys in all subjects where nationally the average scores for both genders were similar.
Another noteworthy observation is the disparity in maths scores between rural and urban schools in grade 8. Here, students in rural areas displayed a slight advantage over their urban counterparts.
The report also suggested further analysis to understand the reasons behind this trend. In his address, Punjab Minister for School Education Rana Sikandar Hayat said that under the leadership of the Punjab Chief Minister, the government is making efforts to bring back out-of-school children as it is committed to prioritising education. He added, the National Achievement Test results are encouraging, we recognize the need to do more.
Pakistan has declared an education emergency to address challenges, including the significant issue of out-of-school children.
The collaborative efforts between the Punjab Examination Commission and Pakistan Institute of Education, with technical assistance from Cambridge Partnership for Education.
