Daily Times

LAHORE: The Punjab government has constituted committees at tehsil level to recheck the list of schools being handed over to non-government organisation (NGOs) through Punjab Education Foundation (PEF), Daily Times learnt on Sunday.

The decision was made after a number of schoolteachers across Punjab held a protest demonstration at Faisal Chowk Lahore against the Punjab government’s decision of handing over schools to different NGOs. The teachers claimed that the government was even handing over those schools to the NGOs which were performing better.

Earlier, the Punjab government had announced to hand over the management of those public sector schools to PEF and NGOs whose result was below 25 percent in Punjab Examination Commission (PEC) and having enrolment less than 20 students. However, sources said that the government was handing over those schools also which were performing much better than the prescribed criteria.

However, according to the document available with Daily Times, the School Education Department has asked EDOs to form committees which would include officials from EDO office and representatives of Punjab Teachers Union (PTU). The committees will recheck the lists for second phase of the Public School Support Programme of the PEF.

It is pertinent to mention here that the two sit-ins of teachers was ended after a delegation of teachers had a meeting with Punjab Education Minister Rana Mashood and it was decided in the meeting that district or tehsil office bearers of the PTU would be included in the rechecking process as they would identify the schools which were performing better than the said criteria or having enrolment more than 20 students.

When contacted, Punjab Teachers Association (PTU) information secretary Rana Liaqat told Daily Times that the Punjab government had included the names of the PTU’s tehsil presidents, vice presidents and secretary generals in the committees to review the names of schools given to PEF. He said that now teachers were waiting whether the government would consider their recommendations or not.

“We are hoping for positive response from the government as it had promised in a meeting after a sit-in Lahore,” he added.