Application deadline extended to April 7 as NGOs, private schools show little interest
Government School in Pakistan. Photo: AFP (file)
RAWALPINDI:
Under the Punjab Schools Reorganization Programme, the interest of NGOs, private schools and education experts in acquiring public schools in the third phase of privatization has decreased significantly.
Very few applications to acquire public schools were received, prompting the Education Department to extend the deadline for submitting phase three applications to April 7.
According to a circular issued in this regard, educated youth, NGOs, private school owners and education experts can now apply to acquire government schools till April 7. Only a limited number of applications had been received on 10 March.
Teachers’ organizations and education sources told The Express Pakinomist that the previous experience of government schools being taken over by the private sector had failed. In southern Punjab districts, buyers have started returning previously acquired public schools. Due to this situation, the government has decided that the returned schools must be merged with nearby institutions.
In phase three, 29 more schools from Rawalpindi have been included. At present, the number of public schools in Punjab has declined from 47,000 to about 38,500.
Applications to acquire public schools will be submitted online until April 7.
Groups, private school owners and education experts who have previously acquired public schools have refused to take more schools into the third phase, raising concerns that the privatization program could fail.
Teachers’ organization leaders Basharat Iqbal Raja, Akhiyan Gul and Shafiq Bhalwalya said the government’s education experiments have resulted in a drop in student enrollment in government schools.
Old textbooks must be redistributed
Due to a severe financial and economic crisis, the education department has issued instructions to all government schools to collect textbooks of previous classes from students who are expected to go from class one to class nine.
Class teachers have been asked to collect these books from the students.
To this end, an “old book bank” has been formally established in schools with teachers assigned to manage it. These old textbooks will be distributed among students who are promoted to the next classes.
For the last eight years, the Punjab government has been distributing free textbooks every year to students of all classes in government schools. But during the 2025 academic session, new textbooks were in short supply in record numbers and teachers had taken old books from some students to give them to new students.
