Quality of early childhood education in Pakistan: Insights from public, private, and TCF schools

High-quality early childhood education (ECE) is critical for children’s development, yet evidence from low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) remains limited. This study examined the structural (teacher education, ECE training, age, experience, class size, and ratio) and process quality (global and interactional) of ECE classrooms and child outcomes across 52 public, private, and non-profit schools in Karachi, Pakistan. Findings revealed that while 60% of teachers had completed higher education, only half had ECE training, and classrooms had large number of students and high teacher-child ratios. In terms of process quality, overall classroom quality was low but teacher-child interactions were comparatively stronger. We also found significant sectoral differences, with the non-profit schools outperforming both public and private schools on process quality, despite larger class sizes and lower teacher qualifications. In terms of children’s outcomes, children from non-profit schools performed better than those in public and private schools on pre-literacy, pre-numeracy, and social skills, whereas children from private schools scored the highest on emotion knowledge and children from public schools consistently scored the lowest outcomes across domains. The findings reveal a striking divide in the quality and outcomes of ECE across school types, reflecting broader inequalities within Pakistan’s education system. Despite operating with larger ratios and less formally qualified staff, non-profit schools demonstrated higher process quality and stronger child outcomes than both public and private schools, suggesting that high-quality early learning is achievable even in low-resource settings.