Islamabad: School infrastructure remains a critical but often under examined dimension of Pakistan's education system, shaping not only access to schooling but also the quality of learning environments. While enrollment rates have improved significantly over time, the availability of basic and learning-support facilities continues to determine how effectively students can engage in the classroom. Analysis of the ASER Pakistan 2025 (National, Rural-Urban) dataset highlights that although a majority of schools now provide core facilities, substantial disparities persist between government and private institutions across multiple indicators, including electricity, sanitation, and access to learning resources.
Gallup Pakistan's Big Data series was initiated by Bilal I. Gilani, Executive Director of Gallup Pakistan. As he explains: 'Pakistan does not suffer from a lack of data, but from limited accessibility and weak translation of numbers into understanding. Gallup Pakistan bridges this
gap by analyzing large, often under-used datasets - from PSLM and Labour Force Surveys to Economic Surveys and National Census data - so these statistics can meaningfully inform policy and public discourse.'
Boundary walls: 75.8% of government schools vs 86.2% of private schools. Electricity: 66.7% (government) vs 83.6% (private). Clean drinking water: 65.5% (government) vs 79.8% (private). Student toilets: 66.4% (government) vs 79.5% (private). Computer labs: Only 16.1% in government schools vs 31.3% in private. Science labs: Extremely low in government schools (12.7%) vs 27.4% in
Private. Working libraries: 16% (government) vs 32.6% (private).
Private schools demonstrate a consistent advantage in the availability of core infrastructure, suggesting more reliable provision of essential facilities. The presence of boundary walls in 86.2% of private schools compared to 75.8% of government schools indicates stronger institutional structure and physical security in the private sector. This difference, while seemingly modest, reflects a broader pattern in which private schools are more likely to ensure complete facility coverage rather than partial provision.
Access to electricity further reinforces this gap. With 83.6% of private schools reporting electricity compared to 66.7% of government schools, a substantial share of government schools still operate without reliable power. This has important implications not only for basic functioning but also for the adoption of technology-based learning tools. Similarly, private schools show higher availability of playgrounds and drinking water, indicating that infrastructure differences extend beyond core necessities into overall school environment quality. Together, these patterns suggest that private schools are better positioned to provide stable and functional learning spaces.
Sanitation-related facilities reveal some of the most critical disparities between government and private schools, with implications that extend directly to student attendance, health, and gender inclusion. While 79.5% of private schools report having student toilets, only 66.4% of government schools do, leaving a significant proportion of students without access to basic sanitation. More notably, the availability of separate toilet facilities stands at 66.8% in private schools compared to just 34.5% in government schools, representing a gap of over 30 percentage points. This difference is particularly important in the context of female student participation, as the absence of gender-segregated facilities is widely associated with lower attendance and higher dropout rates among girls.
Even where toilets exist, the quality of facilities varies. Running water in toilets is available in 69.6% of private schools versus 63.4% of government schools, indicating that functionality is not universal even
within existing infrastructure. These findings suggest that sanitation challenges in government schools are not only about availability but also about adequacy and usability.
Facilities that support learning beyond basic instruction-such as labs, libraries, and computer access- remain limited across both sectors, but particularly in government schools. The data show that only
16.1% of government schools have computer labs compared to 31.3% of private schools, while science labs are present in just 12.7% of government schools versus 27.4% in private schools. This gap indicates that a large proportion of students, especially in government schools, have limited exposure to practical, experimental, and technology-driven learning. Similarly, working libraries are available in only 16% of government schools compared to 32.6% of private schools, further restricting access to supplementary learning resources.
These disparities suggest that while schooling may be accessible, the quality of learning environments remains uneven, particularly in terms of opportunities for skill development, critical thinking, and digital literacy. This has long-term implications for learning outcomes and workforce readiness.
Facilities designed to support teachers also show clear differences between the two sectors, reflecting broader institutional capacity. Day care facilities for teachers are available in 22% of private schools compared to just 10.2% of government schools, indicating that teacher support systems are more developed in the private sector. Similarly, first aid availability stands at 55.7% in private schools versus 33.1% in government schools, suggesting that even basic safety and health provisions are more consistently available in private
institutions. These differences may influence teacher working conditions, job satisfaction, and retention, ultimately affecting classroom performance and student learning. The relatively limited availability of such facilities in government schools highlights the need to consider not only student-facing infrastructure but also the broader ecosystem that supports teaching and school management.
Despite improvements in electricity access, digital infrastructure remains limited, particularly at the classroom level. While 43% of government high schools report internet availability at the school level, only 11% have access within classrooms, indicating a gap between infrastructure presence and actual usability.
Private schools perform better, with 54% of high schools reporting school-level internet access and 17% classroom-level access, but even here, integration into teaching spaces remains limited. This suggests that digital connectivity, while expanding, has not yet translated into meaningful classroom-level adoption. The data indicate that Pakistan's education system is still in an early phase of digital integration, where infrastructure exists in some form but is not yet fully embedded in teaching and learning processes.
Multigrade teaching remains significantly more common in government schools, where 30% of schools report multigrade classrooms compared to 20% in private schools. This reflects underlying resource constraints, particularly shortages of teachers and classrooms, which require schools to combine multiple grades into a single teaching environment.
At the same time, gaps in basic facilities at the primary level persist. For example, boundary walls are present in 71% of government primary schools compared to 81% of private schools, while access to
drinking water stands at 60% versus 74%, respectively. These early-stage disparities suggest that inequalities in infrastructure begin at the foundational level of education and may compound over time.
The Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) Pakistan 2025 is a nationally representative, citizen-led household survey that assesses children's schooling status and foundational learning outcomes across
Pakistan. The survey covers all children aged 3-16 in sampled households, administering basic reading and arithmetic assessments to children aged 5-16. ASER 2025 marks a significant methodological milestone. For the first time, the survey has transitioned to a census-based, nationally representative sampling framework, developed in technical collaboration with the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) and drawing on Enumeration Blocks from the 2023 Population and Housing Census. Using a stratified, two-stage sampling design with defined probabilities and weights, the survey now produces estimates representative at the district, provincial, and national levels within a unified framework. In 2025, 95% of data were collected digitally via a dedicated mobile application, enabling real-time entry and automated consistency checks.
Due to this methodological shift, ASER 2025 results are not directly comparable with previous rounds. The 2025 dataset should be treated as a new baseline for rigorous, long-term trend analysis. The report was published on March 26, 2026, by Idara-e-Taleem-o-Aagahi (ITA) with support from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), the National Rural Support Programme (NRSP), and a network of civil society partner organizations across Pakistan.