RAWALPINDI:
The Punjab Teachers Union, Educators Association and Education Pensioners Association have strongly condemned the privatization of public schools and colleges under the banners of Public-Private Partnership and “Schools of Eminence”, describing the initiative as 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 Pensioners Association Central General Secretary Shafiq Bhalowalia alleged that approximately 15,000 schools had been outsourced last year alone, resulting in the abolition of nearly 50,000 teaching posts.
According to union representatives, permanent teachers in outsourced institutions had effectively been replaced by graduates and master’s degree holders employed by private companies with monthly salaries ranging between Rs 8,000 and Rs 10,000.
They further claimed that these teachers were not even paid during summer vacations, while principals, principals and headmistresses received salaries of only around Rs 12,000 per month.
“The Punjab government has set the minimum wage for an unskilled worker at approximately Rs 45,000, but teachers are paid only Rs 8,000 to Rs 10,000. This is an exploitative and deeply unfair system,” the leaders said.
The organizations also criticized the expansion of the public-private partnership model through the recently introduced “Schools of Eminence” program, under which additional educational institutions are reportedly being handed over to private entities.
They claimed that although starting salaries of Rs 50,000 to Rs 60,000 had been announced for teachers recruited under the Eminence Schools scheme, these positions did not offer pension or gratuity or any form of long-term financial security.
“In effect, the doors to permanent employment are completely closed to the younger generation,” the representatives warned, adding that a similar situation is likely to arise in colleges that may also be outsourced or converted into “Eminence” institutions.
Union leaders argued that the education and health sectors had historically provided large-scale employment opportunities for young people, and that continued privatization would dramatically increase the number of unemployed and underemployed graduates across society.
They argued that outsourcing, public-private partnerships and privatization were not simply issues affecting teachers alone, but broader social concerns that also affected unemployed youth and their families.
