A revised list of 11,048 public schools that are scheduled to be privatized by the Punjab School Education Department has been made public. This list includes 1,134 government schools in the Rawalpindi division.
This includes all of their assets, which are thought to be worth billions of rupees, and include buildings, parks, and laboratories. The government will renounce all direct control and responsibility over these public schools once they are in the hands of the private sector.
Civil society associations and teacher organizations have protested the action.
Authorities in Rawalpindi, Attock, Chakwal, and Jhelum, four districts in the Rawalpindi division, have reportedly been told of this decision.
The schools that have been selected and are through the privatization process often have larger campuses and enrollments.
As a result, these schools will no longer provide free education and will rather charge regular fees while serving as an education fund.
Teachers responded to this action by announcing their intention to appeal the ruling in a variety of forums, including the Lahore High Court.
Records from the Punjab Education Department show that 376 schools have been designated for privatization in the districts of Rawalpindi, 264 in Attock, 353 in Jhelum, and 141 in Chakwal.
Additionally, this project has been extended to 657 schools in the Lahore district, 910 in the Faisalabad district, 434 in the Gujranwala district, and 317 in the Multan area.
Approximately 300 to 600 schools have been chosen for privatization across the 36 districts of Punjab.
The formal publishing of this list marks the start of the procedure to move these schools into the private sphere.
The Ministry of Education got an assessment from Muslim Hand, the NGO that acquired these schools, clearing the path for their transfer. By September 30, a formal notice of the transfer is anticipated to be given.
Muhammad Shafiq Bhulwalia, the central secretary of the Punjab SES Teachers Association, voiced concerns about the gradual privatization of the educational system and disclosed that a list of an additional 15,000 schools that may be subject to privatization is also being prepared. This action is currently being challenged in the Lahore High Court.
