This study reviews the effectiveness of international aid in improving the performance of government school education sector in the four provinces of Pakistan with a focus on key education indicators from 2005-2015. There has been a steady flow of foreign aid to Pakistan since the 1990s to help the state to assure universalisation of public education delivery. This influx has followed several international agreements that aim at ensuring Education for all. It picked up further momentum after the tragic events of 9-11-2001. While the donors have used different strategies to deliver their aid, all of them have attempted to increase the enrolment, retention, and the quality of learning imparted to children in classrooms. However, the impact of aid on any of these indicators remains unclear as no systematic analyses have been done in this regard that look at the performance of education indicators over a substantial time period in light of international aid. The study findings, reviewed in light of the concept of Steiner-Khamsi’s (2012) policy borrowing and lending and Habermas’ (1964) concept of public sphere in alignment with the Paris Declaration principles (2005) show that the performance of key education indicators in the four provinces during the decade under review has not been satisfactory despite substantial international aid being provided. There have been marginal gains made in some indicators, more in some provinces than others, but the overall performance of the government education sector has remained much below the desired level
