Similar lack of political will is evident in Pakistan and Bangladesh, although the latter has been making great strides in recent years. These three countries together contain over 97 percent of South Asia's illiterate adult population. ''There has been no political will . Huge differences exist in the quality of education imparted in private schools patronized by the rich and the government schools where standards are low. ''There should be an end to class-based education,'' the official said. The Human Development Report-1998, published by the Human Development Center in Karachi, Pakistan, traces the historical roots of educational disparities in South Asia. Even the phenomenal gender disparities seem to stem from such traditional beliefs as widowhood resulting from women being educated.
Gender disparities interact strongly with other factors such as rural-urban differences.
Now a report released this year by Oxfam International, the UK-based voluntary organization. Some of the developing world's widest educational disparities exist among Indian states. In southern Kerala nearly all children in the 10-14 age group are literate while a third of the boys and two thirds of the girls in northern Uttar Pradesh are illiterate. The education system in Nepal is characterized by low and inequitable distribution of services, poor quality of education insufficient funding and high drop-out rates. Two-thirds of students who enroll do not continue into lower secondary.