A district education ranking has rated Chakwal the highest-ranking district in the country followed Rawalpindi and Attock.The Alif-Ailaan Pakistan District Education Rankings 2014 divulge wide variations in the quality of education across Pakistan’s 146 districts. The ranking measures district-level performance in terms of access, attainment, achievement and gender parity at primary level.
The study has been conducted by Alif-Ailaan and SDPI from already available data of various government and nongovernmental organisations.
Out of a maximum education score of 100, no district reached the level of 90 and only eight districts have scored in 80s. Among top 20 districts, 14 are from Punjab, 3 from Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), one each from Balochistan and Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) along with Islamabad, and none from Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhawa.
The lowest ranking districts are from Balochistan and FATA with many of agencies and areas not included in the ranking due to insufficient data. Last year Poonch had topped the district ranking in the country scoring 82.94 but this year it was placed at 9 with 79.12 score.

In terms of province and territory wise ranking, Islamabad Capital Territory tops the raking followed by Punjab, AJK, GB, Sindh, KPK, Balochistan and FATA.
The report says that districts in Punjab, especially those in the northern part of the province, dominate the education ranking. All 36 districts in the province score above 50 on the education index, compared to 35 out of 36 last year.
The highest-ranking districts in the province are Chakwal, Rawalpindi and Attock while Ranjanpur, Rahim Yar Khan and Muzaffargarh are the poorest performing districts.
Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources Shahid Khaqan Abbasi maintained that education should have been on the priority of the government instead of projects like metro bus.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) is the second worst performing province despite the government’s commitment to improve the situation. This is owing to gender disparities as well as poor learning outcomes in the province. Malakand and Haripur are the highest-ranking districts in KPK while Kohistan and Shangla are the poorest performing districts.
‘It seems from the rankings that Pakistan is only Punjab’, said Bushra Gohar, former Member of National Assembly. ‘All taxpayers’ money goes to security and for spending on education we see towards donors. The state’s narrative of security should be changed now and it is time that we start investing on our children’.
In 2014, Karachi is the only district in Sindh to appear in the top 50, compared to none last year. Hyderabad is placed at 53. Thatta, Mirpurkhas and Umerkot are the lowest-scoring districts in Sindh.
As was the case in 2013, districts from Balochistan continue to perform poorly. As a whole, the province showed the greatest improvement in education scores compared to other provinces and regions (11.4 percentage points). Gwadar and Quetta are the highest-ranking districts in the province, while Dera Bugti and Killa Abdullah are the lowest-scoring districts.
When it comes to middle school level district education ranking, three districts of GB – Skardu, Hunza and Gilgit – have grabbed top three positions respectively.
The study also ranks districts according to availability of basic school level infrastructure and facilities. According to district school infrastructure scores at primary level Bannu is on the top following Islamabad and Lahore. Only 6 of the country’s 146 districts scored more than 90 in the school infrastructure index. Punjab and KPK dominate the infrastructure rankings, with 48 of the top 50 districts in one of these two provinces.
Sindh has seen a significant decline in the availability of infrastructure dropping more than 20 points. AJK, Balochistan, FATA and GB continue to rate poorly in terms of infrastructure.

Chakwal was ranked the top-ranking district of Pakistan in an education ranking. Attock and Rawalpindi were second and third. This ranking assesses district performance at the primary level in terms of attainment, achievement, and gender parity.
Alif-Ailaan, SDPI and other nongovernmental organizations have used data already available to conduct the study.
No district has ever achieved a minimum education score of 90, and only eight districts have reached 80s. 13 of the top 20 districts are from Punjab and 3 from Azad Kashmir (AJK), and one each from Balochistan (GB) and Gilgit-Baltistan(GB) with Islamabad. There is no district from Sindh or Khyber Pakhtunkhawa.
Balochistan and FATA are the lowest-ranking districts. Many agencies and areas were not included due to insufficient information. Poonch was the top-ranked district in the country last year with an average score of 82.94, but it was ranked 9 this year with a score of 79.12.
According to territory and province wise ranking, Islamabad Capital Territory is the top raking, followed by Punjab, AJK and GB, Sindh and Balochistan.
According to the report, Punjabi districts, particularly those located in the north, are at the top of the education ranking. The education index scores all 36 districts higher than 35, which is compared to the 36 that scored above 50 last year.
Chakwal and Rawalpindi are the highest-ranking districts of the province. Ranjanpur and Rahim Yar Khan are the least performing districts.
Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources, stated that education should be the priority of government rather than projects like the metro bus.
Despite the government’s efforts to improve the situation, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is still the worst performing province. This is due to the poor performance of the province’s education system and gender disparities. Malakand, Haripur and Shangla are the most populated districts in KPK. Kohistan is the least performing district.
Bushra Gohar, a former Member of the National Assembly, stated that it appears from the rankings that Pakistan is only Punjab. All taxpayers’ money is used for security and education. We do not see any donors. It is time to change the state’s narrative about security and invest in our children.
Karachi, the only district of Sindh, is in the top 50 in 2014, as compared to last year. Hyderabad is at 53. Sindh’s lowest-scoring areas are Umerkot, Mirpurkhas, and Thatta.

Districts from Balochistan continue their poor performance, as was the case in 2013. The province saw the largest improvement in education scores (11.4%) when compared with other regions and provinces. Gwadar, Quetta and Killa Abdullah rank the highest in the province.
Three districts in GB – Skardu Hunza, Gilgit and Hunza – are at the top of the middle school education ranking.
This study also ranks districts based on the availability of basic school infrastructure and facilities. Based on primary school infrastructure scores, Bannu ranks third after Lahore and Islamabad. Only six of the country’s 146 district scored higher than 90 in the school infrastructure Index. With 48 of the top 50 districts, Punjab and KPK are the dominant provinces in the infrastructure rankings.
The availability of infrastructure in Sindh has declined significantly, dropping by more than 20 points. Infrastructure continues to be a problem in AJK, Balochistan and FATA, as well as GB.