"A Comparative Study of Educational Quality in
Public and Private Secondary Schools: Perspectives
of Teachers and School Administrators in Karachi.”
By
MUHAMMAD ANUS SALEEM
(A2-23152019)
A research project
submitted for the requirements of partial fulfilment
for the degree of B.Ed (Honours) Secondary
Under the supervision of
Prof. ABDUL JABBAR DAHRI
JAMIA MILLIA GOVERNMENT COLLEGE OF
EDUCATION MALIR KARACHI
May 2026
, i
DEDICATION
“In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.”
I dedicated this humble work to my beloved Parents, who always praying for my
success and giving me love without any condition. Especially to my sweet Mother,
who is the light of my life, and my respect Father, who working very hard day and
night to pay my university fees and making me able to stand on my feet today.
I also dedicating this thesis to my dearest friend, who always standing with me in
every difficult time, helping me day and night to complete this research work on time,
and giving me courage when I am feeling completely down and tired.
Without your prayers, love, and support, I can never finish this big journey. Thank
you for everything.
, ii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
First of all, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to Almighty Allah for
giving me the health, strength, and patience to complete this thesis project
successfully on time. I am highly grateful to my research supervisor for their
valuable guidance, continuous support, and immense patience throughout this
research journey. Their insightful feedback and corrections kept me on the right
track and helped me improve the academic quality of this study. I want to
extend my special thanks to the education department officials, school
headmasters, and all the secondary school teachers in Karachi who voluntarily
participated in my interviews. I am truly thankful to them for sparing their
precious time from their busy schedules and sharing their honest workplace
experiences and insights with me. Without their cooperation, this qualitative
data collection would not have been possible. I owe a profound debt of gratitude
to my wonderful family and my closest friends. Their constant encouragement,
emotional support, and belief in my abilities kept me motivated during the most
stressful days of writing this thesis. This milestone belongs to all of them.
, iii
ABSTRACT
The structural divide between public and private educational provision represents a critical
systemic challenge in Pakistan’s urban centers. This study explored and compared the quality
of education between public and private secondary schools in Karachi from the perspectives
of teachers and institutional administrators. Framed within the UNESCO educational quality
framework—focusing on inputs, classroom processes, and institutional management—the
study investigated how structural constraints and governance models shape daily secondary
instruction.
A qualitative research design was deployed to capture the nuanced, lived experiences of
school practitioners. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with a purposive sample of
20 participants, including 10 educators from the public sector and 10 from the private sector
across Karachi. The collected text was analyzed manually following Braun and Clarke’s
six-step thematic analysis protocol to extract core patterns, contextual realities, and systemic
structural challenges without numerical reductions.
The thematic findings revealed a stark polarization between the two sectors. Public secondary
schools possess highly qualified, certified, and financially secure human resources, yet their
pedagogical potential is severely undermined by chronic infrastructural deficits,
administrative delays, and unmanageable student densities exceeding 50 students per class.
Conversely, mid-tier private schools offer structured, well-resourced environments with
Public and Private Secondary Schools: Perspectives
of Teachers and School Administrators in Karachi.”
By
MUHAMMAD ANUS SALEEM
(A2-23152019)
A research project
submitted for the requirements of partial fulfilment
for the degree of B.Ed (Honours) Secondary
Under the supervision of
Prof. ABDUL JABBAR DAHRI
JAMIA MILLIA GOVERNMENT COLLEGE OF
EDUCATION MALIR KARACHI
May 2026
, i
DEDICATION
“In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.”
I dedicated this humble work to my beloved Parents, who always praying for my
success and giving me love without any condition. Especially to my sweet Mother,
who is the light of my life, and my respect Father, who working very hard day and
night to pay my university fees and making me able to stand on my feet today.
I also dedicating this thesis to my dearest friend, who always standing with me in
every difficult time, helping me day and night to complete this research work on time,
and giving me courage when I am feeling completely down and tired.
Without your prayers, love, and support, I can never finish this big journey. Thank
you for everything.
, ii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
First of all, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to Almighty Allah for
giving me the health, strength, and patience to complete this thesis project
successfully on time. I am highly grateful to my research supervisor for their
valuable guidance, continuous support, and immense patience throughout this
research journey. Their insightful feedback and corrections kept me on the right
track and helped me improve the academic quality of this study. I want to
extend my special thanks to the education department officials, school
headmasters, and all the secondary school teachers in Karachi who voluntarily
participated in my interviews. I am truly thankful to them for sparing their
precious time from their busy schedules and sharing their honest workplace
experiences and insights with me. Without their cooperation, this qualitative
data collection would not have been possible. I owe a profound debt of gratitude
to my wonderful family and my closest friends. Their constant encouragement,
emotional support, and belief in my abilities kept me motivated during the most
stressful days of writing this thesis. This milestone belongs to all of them.
, iii
ABSTRACT
The structural divide between public and private educational provision represents a critical
systemic challenge in Pakistan’s urban centers. This study explored and compared the quality
of education between public and private secondary schools in Karachi from the perspectives
of teachers and institutional administrators. Framed within the UNESCO educational quality
framework—focusing on inputs, classroom processes, and institutional management—the
study investigated how structural constraints and governance models shape daily secondary
instruction.
A qualitative research design was deployed to capture the nuanced, lived experiences of
school practitioners. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with a purposive sample of
20 participants, including 10 educators from the public sector and 10 from the private sector
across Karachi. The collected text was analyzed manually following Braun and Clarke’s
six-step thematic analysis protocol to extract core patterns, contextual realities, and systemic
structural challenges without numerical reductions.
The thematic findings revealed a stark polarization between the two sectors. Public secondary
schools possess highly qualified, certified, and financially secure human resources, yet their
pedagogical potential is severely undermined by chronic infrastructural deficits,
administrative delays, and unmanageable student densities exceeding 50 students per class.
Conversely, mid-tier private schools offer structured, well-resourced environments with
