Punjab govt to privatize over 4000 schools

LAHORE: The Education Department has announced that it will begin a third phase of its school privatization program in December, which will shift 4,500 primary, middle, and high schools to private operators, bringing the total to 12,500 government schools privatized.

Under the new plan, all schools in the province with 100 students or fewer will be privatized. Officials have been asked to provide updated lists of these schools.

Teachers currently at these schools will be reassigned to nearby schools or to the surplus pool. For the first time, there are also high schools involved in the privatization.

The notification has been condemned by teachers’ organizations and unions. Rana Liaqat, Secretary General of the Punjab Teachers Union; Muhammad Shafiq Bhalowalia, Central Secretary of the Punjab SES Teachers Union; and Busharat Iqbal Raja, President of the Educators Association, condemned the plan and demanded its withdrawal.

They warned that the Education Department was sabotaging the education sector both by privatization and teacher rationalization. They argued that sending schools to private operators would increase fees and undermine the already vulnerable public education system.