KARACHI: The Sindh government allocated a sum of Rs620 billion for the education sector in its budget for the fiscal year 2026-27.
In the Annual Development Plan (ADP), the education sector received Rs25.86 billion for the fiscal year 2026-27, which is 6.8 percent as compared with the outgoing fiscal year.
Alongside this amount, the government has set aside a School Specific Budget Allocation of Rs22.64 billion.
Funding for educational supplies will increase by 100 percent, rising from Rs3.81 billion to Rs7.62 billion across accounts under the school-specific budget.
This allocation aligns with the 2026 UNESCO Global Education Monitoring (GEM) Report, “Access and equity: countdown to 2030.” To support progress toward Sustainable Development Goal 4, the government has earmarked Rs1.5 billion.
The budget outlines funding for specific areas across school, vocational, and college education:
STEAM Education: The government has integrated STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) into the curriculum. It has allocated Rs1 million to scale up these initiatives and the STEAM Muqablo competition.
Textbook Distribution: The government has allocated Rs5,000 million for the distribution of textbooks to students from pre-primary to Class X. Additionally, Rs850 million is allocated for reimbursement to the Sindh Textbook Board to supply textbooks to the Sindh Education Foundation (SEF) for public and SEF-assisted schools.
STEVTA: The grant for the Sindh Technical Education & Vocational Training Authority has been increased to Rs3,515.18 million for FY 2026-27, compared to Rs2,550 million in FY 2025-26.
College Education: The budget for College Education is proposed at Rs41.4 billion. This incorporates Rs1.3 billion for 13 Cadet Colleges in Sindh and Rs120.00 million for grants-in-aid to four community colleges.
The government has allocated Rs7.4 billion to the Universities & Boards Department, which includes Rs6.8 billion to cover registration, enrollment, and examination fees for Classes IX to XII across seven boards.
Additionally, funding for the Sindh Higher Education Commission has risen from Rs42.29 billion to Rs45.80 billion. From this total, Rs44.46 billion will fund 32 public universities, campuses, and study centres. The budget also introduces 11 new campuses and centres for the University of Karachi and the University of Sindh to expand infrastructure across the province.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2026
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