Plan afoot to privatise govt schools

Teachers associations reject move, threaten strike

RAWALPINDI:

The Punjab School Education Department has decided to privatise government schools across the province, including Rawalpindi, and operate them under a private-public partnership system.

According to sources, government schools lacking permanent teachers or with only one or two teachers will be swiftly transferred to private-public partnership arrangements in the initial phase of this plan.

The department has requested lists of such schools within a week to expedite this process.

School administrations have been instructed to provide detailed information about their facilities, including classrooms, staff rooms, halls, enclosed rooms, total building area, and the number of enrolled students. However, teachers' organisations have strongly opposed the privatisation plan, advocating instead for the urgent recruitment of new teachers.

Rana Liaquat, the Central Secretary General of the Punjab Teachers Union, along with Basharat Iqbal Raja, President of the Educators Association, and Muhammad Shafiq Bhalwalia, Secretary of the Punjab SES Teachers Association, have expressed concerns that privatising schools will escalate education costs, leading to a steep rise in fees at every level.

They also argue that eliminating the free textbook system will result in a decline in government school enrollments.

Despite negotiations between teachers' organizations and the new Education Minister, Sikandar Hayat, the discussions did not yield successful outcomes. Rana Liaquat highlighted that the government's education budget in the province amounts to Rs450 billion, with a significant portion of Rs380 billion allocated for teachers' salaries.

This leaves only Rs70 billion for other educational expenses, which is deemed insufficient.

Rana Liaquat further emphasised that not all schools can be solely managed by the government. Therefore, the process of privatising schools under private-public partnerships is expected to commence within the next three months.

Moreover, the upcoming budget will not allocate any funds specifically for these public schools, indicating a shift in the education sector's operational model.