The Education Department has decided to launch the third phase of its school privatization programme in December, under which 4,500 primary, middle, and high schools will be transferred to private operators. So far, 12,500 government schools have already been privatized.
Under the new plan, all schools across the province with an enrollment of 100 students or fewer will be handed over to the private sector. Authorities have been instructed to submit updated lists of such institutions.
Teachers currently posted at these schools will be reassigned to nearby campuses or shifted to the surplus pool. For the first time, high schools have also been added to the privatization process.
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The announcement has drawn strong criticism from teacher organizations.
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 decision and demanded its withdrawal.
They warned that combining privatisation with teacher rationalization would severely disrupt the education sector. The representatives argued that handing schools over to private entities would raise fees and further weaken an already struggling public education system.
