Daily Times

The Punjab Education Department has officially abolished 43,960 teaching and non-teaching positions across 10,652 outsourced schools. This decision comes under the “Punjab Schools Reorganisation Programme” (PSRP). The Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Finance issued formal notifications confirming these job cuts.

This privatization process started in phases. In the first phase, 5,863 public schools were privatized, followed by another 4,789 schools in the second phase. Currently, the third phase is underway, which aims to privatize an additional 5,100 schools. District education authorities have been directed to announce these job abolitions in their respective regions.

The Punjab Teachers Union and other teacher organizations are outraged by this decision. They announced protests after Eid, criticizing the government for the “sale” of public schools. Union leaders argue that the initial promise of keeping public school teachers under a public-private partnership model has been broken after these positions were eliminated.

Teachers affected by these changes are now seeking transfers and lobbying for support from local politicians. Some have even offered financial incentives for transfers before their schools become privatized. The year has been challenging for the Punjab education department, with a significant rise in school sales and a growing number of out-of-school children, now estimated at 27 million. This trend raises serious concerns for the future of the education system in the region.