Islamabad, Feb 11 (IANS): About 45 per cent of children studying in the fifth standard in Pakistan's rural areas cannot read English meant for students of Class II, a report has revealed.

The Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) was launched by Education Minister Shafqat Mehmood and Planning Ministry's Deputy Chairman Mohammad Jehanzeb Khan at a ceremony here on Monday, reports Dawn news.

In its report for the year 2019, ASER further found that only 59 per cent of fifth grade students in rural areas can read stories in Urdu and other local languages including Sindhi and Pashto, which are included in the syllabus of the second standard.

Furthermore, only 57 per cent of grade five students can solve a two-digit division problem meant for pupils in Class II.

The report further said that 60 per cent of the students in the fifth standard can tell time correctly and solve addition word problems.

Only 53 per cent can solve multiplication word problems.

Students enrolled in private-sector schools show better learning outcomes, Dawn news quoted the report as saying, adding that male students tend to outperform females.

The report also revealed that private sector schools were better equipped and provided more facilities than government or public sector institutions.

Around 87 per cent of private sector schools have a boundary wall, compared to 75 per cent of government schools, it said.

A huge gap was found in the number of schools that had functional toilets: 89 per cent of private sector schools had functioning bathrooms as compared to 59 per cent of government schools.