The 6th EFA Goal calls to improve all aspects of the quality of education and ensure excellence of all so that recognized and measurable learning outcomes are achieved by all, especially in literacy, numeracy and essential life skills.  

UNESCO’s commentary on EFA Goal 6 justifies the emphasis on quality in asserting that “Quality is at the heart of education, and what takes place in classrooms and other learning environments is fundamentally important to the future well-being of children, young people and adults. A quality education is one that satisfies basic learning needs, and enriches the lives of learners and their overall experience of living.”  

The vast majority of state schools are generally felt to be lacking in the quality of teaching and curriculum thus failing to provide meaning or relevance to contemporary circumstances. Additionally, parents regard education as a deadend (particularly those of girl children) in view of the fact that employment avenues remain limited for children emerging from the public sector even while education remains a time intensive process. The quality of education is poorer in rural than in urban areas. Comparatively, public sector students perform poorly in standardized tests even in state conducted examinations. Judging by standard test performance, even non-elite private school students tend to perform better than public sector students. 

This section of the report examines the following components of quality in the context of Sindh