Divisive and inegalitarian? Economic and social outcomes of public, private and faith-based education in Pakistan

Abstract

Pakistan follows a diverse educational system consisting of three different tracks (public, private, and faith-based Madrasah education) with often conflicting objectives. As national cohesion has remained an elusive goal in Pakistan, it is important to know if there are systematic differences in the way graduates from different educational tracks access available opportunities. Using Pakistan Social and Living Standards Measurement (PSLM) survey data 2013-2014, we find that graduates from three tracks face different occupational choices and economic outcomes after their transition to the labor market and systematically differ with respect to the inter-generational transmission of educational and occupational opportunities. Additionally, we analyzed if graduates from the three educational types differ with respect to their socializing skills. Using the ‘sum-score’ approach to estimate the social exclusion, we found that graduates from private and Madrasah educational systems are the least and most socially excluded respectively.