RAWALPINDI:
Following the privatization and sale of public schools, Punjab has witnessed a record decline in the number of public educational institutions due to privatization and public-private partnership policies, according to education sector representatives.
About three and a half years ago, the province had 47,413 public elementary, middle, high, and high schools.
The number has now fallen to 38,108 due to privatization and divestment policies. These include 21,637 primary schools, 7,298 middle schools, 8,236 high schools and 937 high schools.
During the summer holidays, another 15,000 primary, middle, high and secondary schools are expected to be privatized under various schemes.
In major cities, divisions and district headquarters, the sale process of 500 high schools and colleges built on large land areas and with more classrooms has also been initiated under the name “Nawaz Sharif Animation”.
Tender applications have already been received. After the summer holidays, the number of state schools is expected to fall further.
There are a total of 673,120 sanctioned teaching posts across all categories of schools in Punjab. However, only 310,401 teachers are currently serving in schools across the province.
These include 161,128 primary school teachers, 100,056 middle school teachers and 43,826 high school teachers. The remaining positions have been closed.
A complete ban on the employment of permanent teachers has been lifted and no teacher has been recruited since 2018. The authorities now plan to hire trainee teachers on daily wages and lump sums instead of regular teachers.
Punjab Teachers Union President Ramzan Inqalabi, Education Pensioners Secretary Mohammad Shafiq Bhalwalia and Teachers Association President Basharat Iqbal Raja said schools that were previously privatized had seen their education system collapse. They claimed that buyers of these schools were now asking the government to take them back after failing to run them.
They claimed that the bureaucracy had been “playing with the education system” over the past three years and accused the government of trying to pull out of the education sector altogether. According to them, the purpose of the three-month summer vacation is to end the sale process of the schools peacefully.
They said teachers and office staff would not be present during the holidays, making it easier to move schools and declare excess staff.
They demanded an immediate reversal of the privatization policy, saying the constitution obliges the government to provide free education and health care.
