Primary & Secondary education in PAKISTAN

**hermald_eyes** · 06-11-2011,08:56 AM

Primary education

Only 63% of Pakistani children finish primary school education.Furthermore, 68% of Pakistani boys and 72% of Pakistani girls reach grade 5. The standard national system of education is mainly inspired from the British system. Pre-school education is designed for 3–5 years old and usually consists of three stages: Play Group, Nursery and Kindergarten (also called 'KG' or 'Prep'). After pre-school education, students go through junior school from grades 1 to 5. This is proceeded by middle school from grades 6 to 8. At middle school, single-sex education is usually preferred by the community but co-education is also common in urban cities.

The curriculum is usually subject to the institution. The eight commonly examined disciplines are Urdu, English, mathematics, arts, science, social studies, Islamiyat and sometimescomputer studies which is subject to availability of a computer laboratory. Some institutes also give instruction in foreign languages such asArabic, Persian, French and Chinese. The language of instruction depends on the nature of the institution itself, whether it is an English-medium school or an Urdu-medium school.
Secondary education

Secondary education in Pakistan begins from grade 9 and lasts for four years. After end of each of the four school years, students are required to pass a national examination administered by a regional Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education (or BISE).

Upon completion of grade 9, students are expected to take a standardised test in each of the first parts of their academic subjects. They again give these tests of the second parts of the same courses at the end of grade 10. Upon successful completion of these two examinations, they are awarded a Secondary School Certificate (or SSC). This locally termed as 'matriculation certificate' or 'matric' for short. The curriculum usually includes a combination of eight courses including electives (such as Biology, Chemistry, Computing and Physics) as well as compulsory subjects (such as Mathematics, English, Urdu, Islamiyat and Pakistani Studies).

Students then enter an intermediate college and complete grades 11 and 12. Upon completion of each of the two grades, they again take standardised tests in their academic subjects. Upon successful completion of these examinations, students are awarded the Higher Secondary (School) Certificate (or HSC). This level of education is also called the FSc/FA or 'intermediate'. There are many streams students can choose for their 11 and 12 grades, such as pre-medical, pre-engineering, humanities (or social sciences) and commerce. Each stream consists of three electives and as well as three compulsory subjects of English, Urdu, Islamiyat (grade 11 only) and Pakistani Studies (grade 12 only).