How the numbers on this site are collected, checked, and kept honest.
Every fee in the AwaamEd calculator carries one of three tags, shown next to the figure itself:
Nothing is presented as certain until it is Collected. Where a figure is still an Estimate, the calculator says so plainly rather than implying a precision it doesn't have — and any family can overwrite any number with their own.
Phase 1 is hyper-localised to Lahore, comparing four pathways: O/A-Levels through a school, O/A-Levels with a privately-sat A-Level, Matric/FSc, and the GED. The founder's own educational history across these routes forms the first dataset, cross-checked where possible against official schedules from British Council Pakistan, GED Testing Service, IBCC, and individual institutions.
Two methods feed the dataset. The first is direct fee collection from schools, colleges, and exam-registration centres — tuition, exam fees, and any published schedule, recorded with a source and date. The second is structured household interviews with families who have completed each pathway, covering monthly and one-off costs, decision-making, and any scholarships or aid received.
Interviews are framed around family budgeting and consumer transparency, not evaluation, so participation stays comfortable and honest. Every figure — from either method — is recorded with its source and date so it can be checked and updated later. The approach follows the same discipline as household education-cost surveys used in research programmes like LEAPS and RISE: dated, sourced, and reproducible, rather than anecdotal.
The calculator projects each pathway's full cost using a small set of transparent assumptions, all adjustable in its Settings panel:
Currently live for Lahore, with new cities in progress as of August 2026. The site is free to use, requires no account, and collects no personal data from visitors.
Phase 2 extends the dataset to more cities, adds a scholarship and financial-aid directory, and builds a visualised tuition-inflation tracker published on an annual cycle. It also seeks research partnerships with organisations already doing rigorous education-cost research in Pakistan, and distribution partnerships with organisations already running public education-access campaigns — so the numbers reach families directly, not just whoever finds the site.
Spotted a wrong figure, or have fee data to contribute? Use the contact form on the homepage — every correction moves a number from Estimate to Collected.