Lahore:
Punjab is facing a shortage of government schools with 38,000 institutions available to a population of 130 million. According to a report on a non-governmental organization, the Population Council, a lack of infrastructure in government schools and their inaccessibility, is the supreme reasons for a high dropout rate.
The report stated that the province needs about 19,000 new schools over the next 15 years and emphasized that the Punjab government should allocate maximum funds in the upcoming budget to construct more schools.
While the increase in the population of Punjab has created many problems for the government, a shortage of public sector schools has become a major question that inhibits the efforts to increase literacy in the province.
In its latest report, the Population Council stated that the lack of government schools combined with population growth in the province is a matter of concern.
It highlighted the need for 19,000 new schools in the next 15 years to educate the millions of children.
While releasing the report, the council complained a low budget for the children and demanded that the government release abundant means of constructing schools and hospitals for them.
According to the report, there are 10 million children in the age group of five to 15 years out of school.
The population’s growth rate for the province is more than 2.5 percent, and the ratio requires 19,000 more schools to be constructed in the next 15 years.
The teaching community faces obstacles in bringing children outside school children to government schools mainly because of the lack of the institutions and the lack of facilities.
A senior official in the Punjab School Education Department said there are about 38,000 government schools in the 36 districts in Punjab. Of those, 21,702 are primary, 7,200 middle, 8,000 high and 800 colleges. The official said that schools are facing a lack of funds and facilities. Construction of new schools has not been a priority for a long period of time. The last new school in Lahore had been built in 2011.
He said there are many housing communities in Lahore and other cities where no government school operates.
He said the government pursued outsourcing of government schools while ignoring the opposition to teachers.
The official said the poor people suffered most when there were 10 million children out of school who would study, but government policies did not support them.
Punjab Teachers Union Secretary General Rana Liaqat Ali, “It is clear that more public sector schools are needed, and this is why we went to the roads to oppose outsourcing, but the government did not consider our concerns.”
He added, “Now International NGOs have also highlighted the question and demanded more government schools, so we ask the government to consider the matter in the interest of the future generations.
He said not only schools, but new government schools and universities were also needed in Punjab.
Teachers’ leader expressed hope that the government would prioritize school projects in the upcoming budget for Punjab.
