Islamabad: Government school teachers in Pakistan are generally better qualified academically and professionally than their counterparts in private schools, with more than half possessing master’s or higher degrees and a significantly larger proportion holding professional teaching qualifications, according to an analysis of the ASER Pakistan 2025 teacher-level data released by Gallup Pakistan.
The report found that 52.4 percent of government school teachers had master’s or higher qualifications compared to 39.1 percent of teachers working in private schools, indicating a stronger concentration of highly educated teachers in the public sector.
Private schools, meanwhile, employed a greater proportion of teachers with intermediate-level qualifications. Around 18.9 percent of private school teachers possessed FA qualifications compared to 9.6 percent in government schools. Similarly, 6.4 percent of private school teachers had matric-level education against 5.2 percent in public schools.
At the bachelor’s level, the difference between the two sectors was relatively narrow, with 30.6 percent of private school teachers holding BA degrees compared to 27.7 percent in government schools.
The analysis also showed that government teachers were more likely to possess professional teaching credentials. Around 41.3 percent of public sector teachers held Bachelor of Education (B.Ed) degrees, compared to 33.4 percent in private schools, while 23.4 percent had Master of Education (M.Ed) qualifications against 15.3 percent among private school teachers.
Private schools, however, recorded a slightly higher proportion of teachers with Certificate in Teaching (CT) qualifications, accounting for 12.4 percent compared with 9.9 percent in government schools.
Gallup Pakistan said the findings reflected structural differences between the two sectors. Government schools recruit teachers through formal procedures and offer standardized pay scales, career progression and job security, factors that encourage higher educational attainment and professional training.
Private schools, on the other hand, rely more heavily on flexible hiring practices and mid-level qualifications, partly due to financial constraints and variations in local labour markets.
According to the report, these differences in teacher qualifications have important implications for classroom practices, pedagogical skills and student learning outcomes.
The analysis stressed that improving education quality in Pakistan would require expanding access to professional teacher training and strengthening qualification standards across private schools to narrow disparities between the two sectors and improve the effectiveness of the country’s teaching workforce.
The findings are based on the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) Pakistan 2025 national rural-urban dataset compiled by Idara-e-Taleem-o-Aagahi (ITA) and analysed by Gallup Pakistan under its Big Data Analysis initiative.