Constitutional Pledges, Ground Realities and Horizontal Inequalities for Education in South Punjab, Pakistan

Abstract

The Constitution of Pakistan is a comprehensive document, that guarantees fundamental human rights to all Pakistanis. However, despite the guarantees the constitution provides, Horizontal Inequalities and disparities remain rampant in Pakistan. Article 25-A of the constitution of Pakistan guarantees free and universal education to all children aged 5 to 16 but with abysmal levels of literacy in areas of high absolute poverty and deprivation, education remains low on the list of priorities. This research explores the Horizontal Inequalities and disparity in education in three Saraiki ethnicity majority districts in South Punjab through discourse analysis of secondary data acquired from the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, in light of Constitutional guarantees. It also takes a deep dive into the reasons why people may consider education of their children a "non-priority" by taking first-hand accounts through in-depth interviews with respondents with one or more children out of school through qualitative thematic analysis. The results indicate that due to the lack of implementation of Article 25(A), ethnic Saraikis experience high levels of inequalities in education. Furthermore, it was found that poverty and lack of resources were the reasons behind low enrollment and dropout rates for the respondents.