e welcome 2026 for reaping major dividends for inclusive evidence-based policy reforms in education, foundational learning and skills in the country. Throughout 2025, we have been a witness to agency and achievements of school children and teachers projected vividly on the official social media of the Departments and Ministry of Education giving us hope for stronger trends in 2026. Children and the youth have been showcasing enabling and immersive learning experiences across academic, non-academic skills and innovations.

Governments, increasingly relying on evidence from the 2023 census as a benchmark together with their own data streams, have recognised the complex challenges that need innovative and bold reforms through diverse partners and innovative financing. Partnerships have been welcomed through structured programmes for education, literacy, foundational learning, research, science, technology and AI, mathematics, libraries, life skills, skilling/ TVET, sports, school meals, health and hygiene; and infrastructure.

There are strong success stories about partnerships in education, albeit subject to critique of abrogation of government responsibility. These trends touch all sub-sectors—from early years to secondary, TVET, higher education and teacher education—addressing access, quality, equity and inclusion.

My reasons for optimism are some important shifts in evidence-based education reforms and financing that need investments over time and across electoral cycles. The potential for page turning in education is at a tipping point, requiring political and bureaucratic imagination—and the will to be sustained in Pakistan.

Building on research

The recent two-day International Education Summit by the Data and Research in Education Research Consortium at the Allama Iqbal Open University (December 17-18) showcased some stellar research taking place across Pakistan, anchored within government and non-state education systems. It was an occasion to hear and recognise our leaders from research, practice and policymaking across the country to inform the education reforms journey underway. The keynote speaker, Dr Kamal Munir, pro vice chancellor for University Community and Engagement at the University of Cambridge, profoundly framed the challenge: “the learning crisis is driven by an equity crisis requiring a multi-sectoral intersectional holistic treatment and not just piecemeal approaches, where equity is at the core.” It requires data-driven and outcomes-based decisions, investing in partnerships across all sectors of the knowledge economy for economic impact supported by technology-AI for authentic agentic and accelerated learning through an innovative ecosystem.

Thirty papers from ongoing commissioned research were shared in spotlight panels, plenaries and roundtables providing evidence on four major themes: inclusion and social justice; effective teaching; resilient systems; and education governance. It included over 250 participants, including ministers, senior bureaucrats and influencers of policy reforms. Deep dives in themes focused on shifts from mere administrative oversight to teaching and learning purpose for classroom impact, craft of teaching, pedagogical and system reforms for possibilities and effective outcomes-based classroom delivery.

Researchers shared work on addressing the teaching workforce and the “triple helix” of recruitment, licensing and leadership reform—to professionalise and humanise the workforce. Papers on foundational learning evidence were shared on grounded literacy to actual proficiency, investing in ECE, teaching at the right level (TARL), reading hour and facility enablers for ensuring student retention and reduction of out-of-school-children across formal and non-formal systems

The rich research panel on climate change crisis graphically highlighted the impact on learning and building locally responsive, inclusive, resilient, adaptive and safe education systems in Pakistan. It was refreshing to see a research culture growing across Pakistan with rigor and opportunities for researchers, practitioners and policy reform leaders to document promising practices and challenges.

Innovative financing

Amidst shrinking donor budgets to social sectors in 2025 and trends in low GDP allocations to education (1 to 1.9 percent), the government of Pakistan has been exploring innovative sources of domestic financing, shifting from mere inputs to measurable outcomes for attracting private sector and international financing. On December 30, the year-long efforts witnessed the launch of a private-capital-funded Pakistan Skills Impact Bond backed by a Rs 1 billion guarantee from the Ministry of Finance.

Outcomes-based financing will lead to positive trends for education, skills and employment in Pakistan. The PSIB will be independently verified beyond skill certification to job placement and retention for each trainee. The PSIB will shift the risk to private investors who provide capital with government-backed payments released only once the agreed outcomes are achieved. The fund will adhere to the Social Impact Financing Framework developed through multi-stakeholders, including policy makers, development partners, technology and financial institutions. The PSIB will target at least 40 percent women for the workforce, with technical and high value digital skills for the domestic, freelance and overseas employment. This will be implemented through the National Vocational and Technical Training Commission, ensuring training standards and outcomes verification. The Bank of Punjab is the financial partner, and the British Asian Trust is a programme manager supported by the FCDO. The SIF is anchored in public-private partnerships and six national priority pillars for investment: education and human capital focusing on skills development; gender equality; women’s participation and leadership in the workforce; health and well-being; population stabilisation; climate resilience and poverty and migration.

OOSC Challenge Fund

Along with the PSIB, there are active developments for securing outcomes based innovative financing for basic education 5-16 years, guaranteeing education as a fundamental right under Article 25-A and aligned to SDG 4. Triggered in 2023 and reinforced in 2024-25 by the prime minister for concrete actions—to reduce 25 million out of school children in the 5-16 age bracket—the Challenge Fund design is currently under way. It is steered by a high-powered technical working group, chaired by the Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training. The Challenge Fund is being designed with multi-stakeholders across the country. The fund will be an incentive for the provinces, providing additional resources for meeting education targets at the district level for sustained improvement in access and learning outcomes.

There are strong concerns, too: how can we institutionalise and sustain these initiatives on ground in 2026 and beyond? How can all service delivery initiatives—early years, girls’ education, foundational learning, mother tongue based levelled foundational learning, STEM education, happy reading hour, interactive libraries, integration of technology and AI, teacher licensing, school meals and preparedness for emergencies and climate change be sustained?

What is promising is that investments are being grounded not just through input driven service delivery programmes but are increasingly being backed by outcomes tracking. This attracts additional resources backed by robust data regimes.

We know that the challenges of sustained and bold financing, governance and the poly-crisis across simultaneous sectors are daunting, but we are more grounded today in evidence and possibilities to leverage positive outcomes for education, learning, skilling and productivity in Pakistan.

Let us all work to ensure that more children are happy and learning, and more youth are in education, employment and training in 2026.

The writer is the CEO of Idara-i-Taleem-o-Aagahi, a Pakistan Learning Festival founder and a Learning Generation Initiative global champion. She can be reached at [email protected].