RAWALPINDI:
The Punjab Teachers’ Union, Educators’ Association and Education Retirees’ Association have strongly condemned the privatization of government schools and colleges under the banners of public-private partnership and ‘schools of excellence’, terming the initiative a ‘brutal murder’ of the public education system and demanding its immediate withdrawal.
Speaking to the media, PTU President Ramzan Inqalabi, Educators Association President Basharat Iqbal Raja, Education Leader Akhiyan Gul and Education Retirees Association Central General Secretary Shafiq Bhalowalia claimed that around 15,000 schools were outsourced last year alone, leading to the elimination of nearly 50,000 teaching posts.
According to union representatives, permanent teachers of outsourced institutions have been effectively replaced by graduates and MPhil holders employed by private managements with monthly salaries ranging between Rs8,000 and Rs10,000.
They further claimed that these teachers were not even paid during summer vacations, while school principals were paid salaries of only around Rs 12,000 per month.
“The Punjab government has fixed the minimum wage for an unskilled laborer at around Rs 45,000, while teachers are paid only between Rs 8,000 and Rs 10,000. This is exploitative and deeply unfair,” the leaders said.
The organizations also criticized the expansion of the public-private partnership model through the new “Schools of Excellence” program, under which additional educational institutions would be transferred to private entities.
They said that although initial salaries of Rs 50,000-60,000 had been announced for teachers recruited under the Schools of Eminence scheme, these posts did not offer pension or gratuity or any form of long-term financial security.
“Indeed, the doors to permanent employment are completely closed to the younger generation,” the representatives warned, adding that a similar situation was likely to occur in higher education institutions which could also be outsourced or transformed into “Eminence” establishments.
Union leaders argued that the education and health sectors have historically provided large-scale employment opportunities for young people and that continued privatization would significantly increase the number of unemployed and underemployed graduates in society.
They argued that outsourcing, public-private partnerships and privatization were not only issues affecting teachers alone, but also broader social concerns also affecting unemployed youth and their families.
