Education emergency: In a first, census of all private schools

Survey will start by end of October and finish by November- end

LAHORE: In a first such initiative of its kind, the Punjab government has decided to carry out a census of all private schools in the province.

The government conducts  a public school census every year across the province and data as of October 31 is collected. This practice has so far been restricted to the extent of public schools under the administrative control of the Punjab School Education Department (SED) alone.

This year, however, data on schools not under the administrative control of the SED would also be gathered during the census that will be conducted through a private consultancy firm, according to a letter issued by the SED.



“The complete picture of educational size in the province is a prerequisite for realistic planning and evidence-based decision making,” the letter states.

Currently, only estimates exist for out-of-school children and the number and percentage of private schools in the province.

“The government has decided to conduct a private school census with a view to have a fair idea of contribution of private sector in imparting education and rational estimate of out-of-school children in the province,” says the letter issued by the SED to all education executive district officers (EDOs), who have been advised to cooperate with the consultancy firm.

The letter defines private schools as all those registered, unregistered, private, not-for-profit schools, government and semi-government schools under the control of any federal ministry or provincial departments other than the SED working in the Punjab.

For the purpose, the SED has hired a private consultancy firm. Fame Education Consultants has been selected through open competitive process. The firm has been tasked to visit all private schools functioning in the province and collect basic data pertaining to teachers, students and facilities in these schools.

An SED official told The Express Tribune that the purpose of the survey was to get a complete picture of education in the province. The survey would start at the end of October and would be finished by the end of November.

Interestingly, the letter sent to the Education EDOs also issues a warning for privately-run schools.

Under Section 19 (3) of the Punjab Free and Compulsory Education Act 2014, all schools – public or private – are bound to provide such information as the government or the prescribed authority may require, the letter reads. “Provision of requisite information is the responsibility of the private schools and any defiance must be dealt with under provisions of the relevant laws.”

The letter also gives an assurance that the government would not use the collected data against the private schools.

“The information so collected shall not be used against the schools in any way nor the data will be shared with any unauthorised person or organisation,” it adds.

According to the annual report of non-profit Alif Ailaan, around half of the schools in Punjab are private educational institutions with around 47% students enrolled at these institutions.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 19^th, 2016.