School privatization risks unemployment crisis

On the one hand, the Punjab government is making tall claims of ending unemployment in the province, however, on the other hand, after outsourcing more than 14,000 government schools, it is now planning to abolish the posts of nearly 43,000 teachers.

Allegedly, the Punjab government is outsourcing schools and abolishing teachers’ posts on the pressure of the IMF. After outsourcing more than 14,000 government schools in two phases, the Education Department has now decided to abolish the posts of teachers as well for which instructions have also been issued to the schools. In contrast, more than 133,000 teacher posts are currently lying vacant in Punjab.

Mohammad Akram, Shafiq Ahmed and Nazia Bibi, three teachers working in the education sector, felt that the government was pushing them into unemployment by abolishing the vacancies to hide its own shortcomings in the education sector. “One month after the schools opened, we came to realize what the government was doing. It is abolishing posts in schools where the number of teachers is less. Schools are already facing a shortage of teachers and this move is only going to worsen the education crisis,” said the teachers.

Salman Abid, a public policy advisor, opined that the government and the Education Department were drowning the education sector in turmoil by experimenting with new policies on a daily basis and spreading uncertainty among teachers. "Instead of focusing on the aim of improving the quality of education, the government is instigating unemployment among teachers by outsourcing schools under the guise of rationalization. Such policies are a violation of Article 25 of the Constitution of Pakistan, which considers education as a fundamental right. As a result of outsourcing, access to education will become more difficult for low-income students who do not have enough resources," explained Abid.

According to the documents obtained by the Express Tribune, the Punjab government is outsourcing more than 14,000 government schools in two phases and removing the posts of more than 40,000 teachers. After the outsourcing of government schools, 43,960 posts from Grade 14 to Grade 16 are being abolished. Available records have revealed that 43,624 posts of Grade 14, 283 posts of Grade 15 and 53 posts of Grade 16 are expected to be abolished after the government schools are outsourced. Out of all these posts, 26,697 are primary posts, 7,222 are middle school posts and 8,081 are high school posts.

Rana Liaquat Ali, General Secretary of Punjab Teachers' Union, revealed that more than one lakh teachers were being affected by the outsourcing process of schools. “The education system is sinking, and the government is pushing it towards destruction for its own interests. The posts of Grade 14 to Grade 16 are being abolished. The posts in the files are being removed so that more demands can be met from the IMF. After abolishing more than 43,000 posts, the livelihoods of teachers will be at stake,” said Ali.

On the other hand, Punjab Education Department’s spokesman Noor-ul-Hadi claimed that there was no shortage of teachers in the government schools of Punjab. “Thousands of teachers have been re-shuffled after the rationalization process. The reports regarding the shortage of teachers are vague. During a survey, 23,000 teachers were in surplus. These teachers have been deployed in other schools by shuffling after rationalization. After this shuffling, the posts in schools are no longer vacant but have been completed,” affirmed Noor-ul-Hadi.