The BISP executed Benazir Taleemi Wazifa (BTW) program providing quarterly stipends to impoverished families as education incentives for children completes 10 years in 2023.
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With inflationary pressures and rising academic costs, will the cash assistance amounts be enhanced for existing 7 million enrolled beneficiaries? Let’s analyze the aspects fuelling need debate and prospects for raises based on affordability considerations & program priorities.
The Case for Enhancing Student Stipends
Off-setting Academic Expense Inflation
Pakistan’s persistent high inflation environment has witnessed domestic price levels nearly double over the last decade. For BTW beneficiary groups largely relying on fixed nominal stipend amounts set in 2013, this shrinks real value of education assistance secured.
Upward aligning stipend rates would help offset part impact of whopping 200% collective inflation over 10 years on schooling budgets.
Parity Against Minimum Wage
Pakistan’s monthly minimum wage has itself risen from PKR 12,000 in 2015 to PKR 25,000 in 2023 to maintain currency parity. Compared against this near 100% spike, stagnant BTW incentive levels risk diluting purchasing power for beneficiaries and call for calibrating amount revisals.
Mitigating Income Erosion of Beneficiaries
With current recession trends contracting small income sources, the erosion in family earnings warrants mitigation through higher education stipends value for continuity. Cushioning against income deflation remains imperative.
Scope for Enhancing Programme Budgets
As per IMF estimates, Pakistan’s GDP growth turnaround prospects signal fiscal space for expanding existing social protection budget allocations as inflation stabilizes and BTW programme scale matures over time.
Thereby, the economic context certainlySubstantiates the urgency behind growing stipend requests from beneficiary groups.
Evaluating the Viability for Incentives Increase
However determining actual feasibility and quantum of any raises by BISP requires factoring critical aspects spanning fiscal affordability, education sector priorities and social security harmonization:
Fiscal Considerations
With 1/3rd children still out of schools, budget constraints necessitate prudency in revising existing stipend rates which already utilize sizeable funding pool of PKR 40 billion before further new enrollments.
Program Priority Assessment
Beyond stipend disbursals, enhancing monitoring and universalization of BTW programme among all marginalized clusters first needs accomplishment.
Cohesion with Broader Incentives
Harmonizing stipend amount revisions and eligibility linkages between ancillary education focused schemes and BTW needs alignment to optimize state resources.
Potential Middle Path Forward
Considering the multi-dimensional tradeoffs involved around optimal targeting inclusive growth using current fiscal flexibility, a balanced approach merits evaluability going forward:
Gradual Hikes
Phase-wise increases of 15-20% can be mapped yearly against priority education levels like secondary and tertiary instead of blanket raises across grades immediately.
Customized Bottom-Up Revisions
Beyond standardized stipend rates, district-wise customization accounting local inflation levels can minimize gaps dynamically for students instead of top-down changes.
Thereby, accounting ground realities and constraints in structured ways is key towards creating sustainable enhancements.
Summing Up
At the end of day, ensuring equitable access and consistency takes priority over stipend amounts in the mission of empowering futures through unbroken learning.
By taking citizens along the roadmap ahead, BISP can optimally calibrate assistance balancing progressive student welfare against responsiveness towards a delicate economy.
Our children deserve no less looking at the decade ahead.
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.