After privatizing thousands of public schools, the Punjab government has started the process of handing over public colleges to private management, drawing sharp backlash from teachers’ associations across the province.
Punjab currently operates 750 colleges, and in the first phase, 100 colleges — including both commerce colleges in Rawalpindi — will be outsourced to private organizations.
So far, the government has transferred 12,500 public schools under its education privatization program.
Starting November 1, another 7,000 primary and middle schools, along with several high and higher secondary schools, will be added to the next phase. Schools with fewer than 100 students will be outsourced, while staffing levels will depend on student enrollment.
Punjab Education Minister Rana Sikandar Hayat said the government cannot justify spending Rs. 300,000 per student annually at commerce colleges. He announced plans to open large, modern commerce colleges equipped with advanced labs and up to 400 computers to improve learning standards.
The government aims to complete the privatization of schools and colleges by March 31, 2026, before the start of the new academic year. However, teachers’ unions have rejected the decision, announcing strikes, sit-ins, and province-wide protests against the plan.
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when we recruit incompitant and corupt people through nepotism and coruption than protect them with no accountability and immunity then organs of the state suffer like PIA steel mills NBP railways, health and education system wapda and you name it.
Then our next phase is not to start accountability but to hand over the institutions in the name of privatization to those who destroyed them bcz they have started their own businesses in the same field where they destroyed public instructions.
It is a pathetic and very wrong approach health and education is the primary responsibility of the state.
This privatization will further destroy our health and education system and will fill the belles of few at the cost of suffering of whole nation.
Solution to this cancerous problem spreaded in almost all institutions related to public service is to invoke law full available option of invoking article six against all those who did or are doing things against the interest of public and nation while getting salaries and benifits from public exchequer.
such cases should be heard and decided in summary trial courts to clean up this mess.
Alhamdolilah