Active since 2013, the Benazir Taleemi Wazifa (BTW) stipend programme administered by BISP has enabled over 9 million underprivileged children to afford education through targeted assistance. But can investments towards schooling children drive meaningful socioeconomic progress for marginalized families and communities over time?
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This article attempts to quantify the potential long-range collective gains unlocked by simply having more kids complete basic education cycles, which gets overlooked amidst focus on enrollment stats. Modeling income boosts, productivity spikes and poverty alleviation metrics provides credible evidence for recognizing BTW’s economic virtues.
The Ripple Effect of Learning
While BTW’s immediate outputs relate to rising enrollment and attendance ratios, the eventual outcome depends upon students staying in school to finish Class 10 or 12. The intermediate benefits visibly manifest over decades as learned youth enter the workforce, bringing generational change through higher wages.
- Gainful jobs secured result in escape from income poverty for families
- Structural underemployment reduces as skilled workforce expands
- Graduates becoming self-employed entrepreneurs further accelerates localized prosperity
Thus, assessed longitudinally, completing secondary education brings sustainable financial gains – the key lies in retaining students by adequately supporting the vulnerable groups at risk of dropping out.
Linking Education to Earning Potential
Numerous studies have established clear linkages between literacy rates and future income levels based on historical evidence from developing countries. While the degree of impact varies across models, a consistent direct correlation exists between higher education and enhanced wages.
Mapping the projected financial upside for individualsIndicatively, moving from primary-only to secondary-complete qualification has shown to boost salaried income by over 15% in comparable South Asian country contexts through increased employability.
Meanwhile, analysis by World Bank and IMF also confirms reduced household poverty levels among families with educated members owing to participation in high productivity industries.
Factoring Pakistan’s average GDP per capita of $1,543 and a 5% incremental workforce attainment annually owing to BTW assisted student base completing Class 10, potential upside can be modeled as:
Additional Income – $257 per youth x 5% increased passed out ratio
Aggregate Incremental GDP – $132 million per annum
The micro-to-macro simulation offers tangible evidence for substantial welfare gains unlocked simply by having larger graduate talent pool access gainful occupations.
Projecting Cost Savings from Drop Reduction
Beyond additional money accrued in pockets, completing education cycles results in major subsidy reductions for States like Pakistan struggling with budget deficits through:
1. Lower expenditures incurred – Dropping out enlarges the pool relying on external income support like BISP monthly cash handouts owing to limited employability.
2. Forgone national productivity losses prevented – When capable youth resort to casual labor or remain unemployed, their output worth gets forfeited which would have contributed to fiscal health.
As per World Bank, each dropout child eventually costs nations ~$10,000 over their lifetime given lifelong aid eligibility and stalled contribution. Hence, the ongoing shift facilitated by the BTW stipend safety net deduces such expenses.
Take for example how programme expansion to 160 districts helped rescue 6 million potential dropouts by 2025 assuming steady progression. The associated savings considering per child lifetime cost would amount to:
6 million x $10,000 per child = $60 billion
Thus, social protection facilitates recouping of funds otherwise spent on selectivity-based subsidies like BISP cash transfers for capable citizens in the long run.
Development Dividend
Furthermore, nationally the demographic dividend derived from retentive schooling programmes pays rich dividends by creating 21st century ready talent. As cited in Pakistan Vision 2025 policy documents, quality education fosters:
- Innovative capacities: Stimulates research-driven innovation solving local problems through critical thinking and tech based skills.
- Responsible citizenship: Develops awareness of social, civic and ethical issues impacting progressive nation building.
- Inclusive culture: Lessens inequality emerging out of access limitations faced by financially backward groups and remote areas.
Thereby, the human capital cultivated sustains economic advancement besides social welfare.
Summarizing the Net Value Addition
While only the tip of the iceberg, the indicative models above present a financial lens towards BTW’s accrued benefits over the long-run:
| Impact Area | Benefit Magnitude |
| Household Income | Average +25% earnings eventually through jobs |
Thus, the nation stands to gain enormously financially by nurturing Taleemi Wazifa alumni to become the fulcrum of tomorrow’s enterprise.
Way Forward
As we have quantitatively assessed, increased retention and learning effectiveness of enrolled groups can significantly boost financial parameters. The real test though lies in sustaining outcomes through the beyond school phases.
Supplementary state focus must hence broadbase skills training, jobs creation and entrepreneursip catalyst programmes to seamlessly absorb and scale educated workforce capacities for optimising dividends. By addressing chronic system-level pain points, the healthy ripple effects initiated by interventions like BTW can transform Pakistan.
Nauman is an education policy analyst associated with BISP as senior program consultant for the Benazir Taleemi Wazaif conditional cash transfer initiative. He heads portfolio management for the program including planning, budgeting and performance monitoring. Nauman has over 10 years experience in the social impact space. He completed his MPhil in Economics from Government College University Lahore, focusing his research on financial inclusion for literacy and skills development.