What is the context?
In 2023, the Data Standardisation Framework (DSF) for the Pakistan Education Management Information System (EMIS) was prepared by the Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training to support standardisation of data collected in the Annual School Census (ASC) across the provinces. In a significant demonstration of commitment to disability inclusion, the DSF stipulated the integration of four (of six) Washington Group Short Set (WG-SS) questions in Pakistan’s school census. These questions measure difficulty functioning in four capabilities (seeing, hearing, walking and remembering or concentrating) among children attending mainstream public schools in Pakistan. The Washington Group questions are used to determine the prevalence of disability in a group of people and allow survey or census data to be disaggregated by disability, providing essential information to inform planning and provision of adequate support so children with disability can participate and benefit from education.
To support implementation of the Washington Group questions within the ASC, Sightsavers provided technical assistance at federal and provincial levels through development of data collection and analysis guidance and training of stakeholders. Subsequently, Sightsavers has conducted a research study to analyse the effectiveness of this initial experience.
The Data and Research in Education – Research Consortium (DARE-RC) aims to understand the challenges facing Pakistan’s education system and explore potential solutions to these issues. The DARE-RC programme is funded by UK International Development from the UK government. This policy brief contributes to this by highlighting the value attributed to disability data by system stakeholders at all levels in Pakistan, and the importance of iterative work to strengthen collection and use of this disability data in future Annual School Censuses, as part of ongoing efforts to make the education system more inclusive of learners with disabilities.
What did we learn?
● In a significant commitment to disability inclusion, four of six Washington Group Short Set (WG-SS) questions — used globally to measure disability prevalence — were added to Pakistan’s Annual School Census (ASC) for all provinces. This brief draws on research assessing how well the initiative has worked in practice.
● The data collected so far significantly under-reports disability: 90% of schools recorded zero children with any functional difficulty, whereas other national data sources report high prevalence of disability among students. This gap is not due to an actual absence of disability, but reflects rushed form design and limited standardisation during rollout of this initiative.
● The under-reporting also stems from limited training and guidance materials for schools and teachers. Schools developed their own approaches, leading to considerable variation. Many were unclear on the purpose of the questions, leading to disengagement and, sometimes, reporting no disabilities at all. Closing this gap will require clearer guidance, standardised training, and robust quality assurance across provinces.
● Even where data was collected, stakeholders at federal, provincial, and school levels often lacked the capacity to meaningfully analyse or act on it. Teachers were left frustrated when their reporting led to no response. To ensure this data is impactful, building the capacity to interpret data and integrating it into education sector planning and budgeting is key.
● Simply participating in this data collection process created greater awareness of disability among teachers and stakeholders, along with a stronger appetite for training in inclusive education. This suggests WG-SS data collection can do more than inform policy: it can help build the institutional culture needed to sustain progress towards inclusive education.
● Sustaining this progress requires incorporating the two remaining WG-SS questions and investing in the underlying data systems (like stronger EMIS infrastructure and electronic, tablet-based data collection) so that disability data remains reliable over time. Done well, this data can shape provincial education policies and budgets, and support Pakistan’s reporting against global commitments like the SDGs and UNCRPD.
How did we learn this?
The study adopted a sequential, mixed-methods design, to explore the nature and quality of the disability data collected by Pakistan’s 2023/24 Annual School Census (ASC), and to understand the ways in which data collection processes, planning and implementation shaped the data collected. The study was conducted across Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT), and all four provinces, with data collection in both urban and rural Lahore (Punjab), Karachi (Sindh), Peshawar (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), and Quetta (Balochistan).
Study methods included:
i) Documentary analysis of the Data Standardisation Framework (DSF) and Annual School Census (ASC) forms and reports and related documentation.
ii) Quantitative analysis of the WG-SS data collected in all public, mainstream schools in all four provinces and ICT, and comparison of the 2023/24 ASC data.
iii) Key informant interviews (KII) and focus group discussions (FGDs) with stakeholders at federal and provincial levels. Within each province, KIIs and FGDs were also conducted with headteachers and teachers at four different schools.
