Answer given by Mr Síkela on behalf of the European Commission
18.2.2025
In Pakistan, the EU has been supporting education reforms in Balochistan until 2025[1], and in Sindh until 2024[2].
This EU support extends to the school education departments of the provincial governments, which oversee financing and operations of only the state schools.
The EU support is focusing on institutional capacity strengthening and school rehabilitation, training of teachers, and learning. It does not directly focus on curriculum related matters such as curriculum review or development.
To ensure that the EU support does not favour certain religious content, the subjects and content for teachers’ training are selected to remain neutral.
For example, the teachers’ training support to Balochistan School Education Department covers the following subjects: English, mathematics and science.
Any actions which aim to reinforce the state capacity of Pakistan to manage education programmes and schools more effectively can be expected to provide Pakistani students with further options to follow state-led education rather than religious-led one. Notably in selected areas of Balochistan,
EU support also facilitates the provision of formal education to students enrolled in religious seminaries through a fast-track government-recognised primary or elementary certification. This has the potential to ease the transition to state schools for these students.
There will be no more bilateral projects on primary education in Pakistan under the Multi-Annual Indicative Programme 2021-2027; the focus is on technical and vocational education training.
The EU scrutinises its projects including those on education via field visits, reporting, results oriented monitoring missions, evaluations and other monitoring mechanisms.