Protesting Punjab teachers suspended for opposing school privatisation

The Department of Education took action by suspending the presidents and secretaries of the Punjab Teachers Union and Educators Association. Show-cause notices were also issued to the presidents and general secretaries of both associations.

Legal proceedings have begun against Qazi Imran, Malik Amjad, Akhyan Gul, Raja Taimoor Akhtar, and others.

In protest, the teachers locked up the schools today. As a result of the strike, the teaching system in all government schools has come to a complete halt.

The Chief Executive of the Education Authority has warned the teachers to immediately end the strike and resume teaching.

Meanwhile, the teachers' organisations have stated they will not accept the privatisation of schools. They have called a meeting of the Grand Teachers Alliance to announce a new strategy for intensified protests.

The privatisation initiative is part of a broader strategy by the Punjab government, which aims to eventually transfer 13,219 schools to private management.

The third phase of this plan was scheduled for early September, during which an additional 2,903 schools were set to be privatised.

Upon completion of these phases, the number of government-run schools in Punjab will drastically decrease, leaving only 35,000 under direct public administration.

Looking ahead, the government has plans to privatize another 15,000 schools by 2025.

Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz had firmly defended the privatisation efforts, rejecting calls from teachers' unions to halt the process. She argued that privatisation would enhance the education system by improving school conditions and ultimately boosting academic performance.

However, this move faced strong resistance from teachers' organisations, who believed that privatisation would harm the quality of education and threaten educators' job security.

The education department is currently observing a record-low admission rate during the first phase of the admission drive, which ran from February to May 31. The second phase, which began after summer vacations on August 15, is also proving to be equally unsuccessful so far.