LAHORE:
Punjab faces a shortage of government schools with 38,000 institutions available for a population of 130 million. According to a report by a non -governmental organization, the Population Council, the lack of infrastructure in government schools and their lack of availability are the main reasons for a high abandonment rate.
The report stated that the province needs around 19,000 new schools over the next 15 years and emphasized that the Punjab government should allocate maximum funds in the next budget to build more schools.
Although the increase in the population of Punjab has created many problems for the government, the shortage of public sector schools has become a big problem that is hindering efforts to increase the rate of literacy in the province.
The Population Council declared in its latest report that the shortage of government schools together with population growth in the province is a matter of concern.
He highlighted the need for 19,000 new schools in the next 15 years to educate millions of children.
When publishing the report, the Council regretted a low budget for children and demanded that the government should release broad funds to build schools and hospitals for them.
According to the report, there are 10 million children in the age group of five to 15 years out of school.
The population growth rate of the province is more than 2.5 percent and the relationship requires that 19,000 more schools be built in the next 15 years.
The teaching community faces obstacles to getting children from school to government schools mainly due to the shortage of institutions and the lack of facilities.
A senior official of the Punjab School Education Department said there are around 38,000 government schools in the 36 Punjab districts. Of these, 21,702 are primary, 7,200 average, 8,000 highs and 800 higher secondary schools. The official said that schools face a shortage of funds and facilities. The construction of new schools has not been a priority in a long period. The last new school in Lahore had been built in 2011.
He said that there are many housing societies in Lahore and other cities where the government school is not operating.
He said the government was looking for the outsourcing of government schools while ignoring the opposition to politics by teachers.
The official said that indigent people suffered more, since there were 10 million children outside the school they wanted to study, but government policies did not support them.
The general secretary of the Punjab teachers, Rana Liaqat Ali, “it is evident that there is the need for more public sector schools and this is the reason why we take the roads to oppose subcontracting, but the government did not consider our concerns.”
He added: “Now international NGOs have also highlighted the problem and demanded more government schools, so we ask the Government to consider the matter in the interest of future generations.
He said not only schools but also new government schools and universities in Punjab were needed.
The leader of the teachers expressed the hope that the government would give priority to school projects in the next budget for Punjab.
