RAWALPINDI:
The Punjab Teachers Union, Educators Association and Education Pensioners Association have strongly condemned the privatization of public schools and colleges under the banners of Public-Private Partnership and “Schools of Eminence”, describing the initiative as a “brutal killing” of the public education system and demanding its immediate withdrawal.
Talking to the media, PTU President Ramzan Inqalabi, Educators Association President Basharat Iqbal Raja, Education Leader Akhiyan Gul and Education Pensioners Association Central General Secretary Shafiq Bhalowalia claimed that around 15,000 schools had been outsourced last year alone, resulting in the elimination of nearly 50,000 teaching posts.
According to the union representatives, permanent teachers in the outsourced institutions had effectively been replaced by graduates and MPhil degree holders employed by private managements with monthly salaries ranging between Rs 8,000 and 10,000.
They further alleged that these teachers were not even paid during the summer vacation, while principals, principals and headmistresses reportedly received salaries of around Rs 12,000 only. per month.
“The Punjab government has fixed the minimum wage for an unskilled worker at approximately Rs.45,000, yet teachers are paid only Rs8,000 to Rs10,000. This is an exploitative and deeply unfair system,” the leaders said.
The organizations also criticized the expansion of the public-private partnership model through the recently introduced “Schools of Eminence” program, under which additional educational institutions are allegedly handed over to private entities.
They stated that though starting salaries of Rs50,000 to Rs60,000 had been announced for teachers recruited under the Schools of Eminence scheme, such posts offered neither pension nor gratuity nor any long-term financial security.
“In effect, the doors to tenure are being completely closed to the younger generation,” the representatives warned, adding that a similar situation is likely to arise in colleges that may also be outsourced or converted into “Eminence” institutions.
The union leaders argued that the education and health sectors had historically provided great employment opportunities for young people, and that continued privatization would greatly increase the number of unemployed and underemployed graduates across society.
They maintained that outsourcing, public-private partnerships and privatization were not just issues affecting only teachers, but wider social concerns that also affect unemployed youth and their families.
