The report “Educational Exclusion of Children with Special Needs” published by the Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (PIDE) examines the challenges faced by children with special needs in accessing quality education in Pakistan using data from the Pakistan Social Living Standards Measurement (PSLM) 2019-20. It analyzes the various factors that contribute to educational exclusion, including societal attitudes, inadequate infrastructure, and lack of trained teachers.
The key findings are:
- Only 31% of persons with disabilities aged 15-29 ever attended school compared to 47% of persons without disabilities, showing they are 33% less likely to attend school.
- The out-of-school rate for primary school age children with disabilities is twice that of children without disabilities. 71.5% of disabled girls are out of school compared to 67.6% of boys.
- More than two-thirds of adolescents with disabilities aged 12-14 are out of school compared to one-fourth of adolescents without disabilities.
- The average years of schooling for persons with disabilities aged 25 and above is almost half that of persons without disabilities.
- The literacy rate among persons with disabilities is only 41% compared to 69% among persons without disabilities, showing they are 59% less likely to be literate. Literacy is even lower for females with disabilities.
