Outsourcing, rising school dropouts and policy failures leave the education system in deep crisis
RAWALPINDI:
The outgoing year 2025 turned out to be extremely disappointing for teachers and educational institutions as the education system in Punjab, including Rawalpindi, seemed completely paralyzed.
Throughout the year, teachers remained in the streets protesting against policies that negatively affected public education.
During 2025, around 5,800 schools and 71 colleges were handed over to the private sector, while a program to outsource a total of 10,500 primary schools in three phases continued. Due to privatization and inflation, student dropout rates increased and almost 700,000 children left schools after outsourcing.
The number of street children in Punjab saw an alarming increase, reaching almost 30 million.
The situation is expected to worsen further as schools and universities in rural areas are also being sold, leading to more school dropouts. In many public schools, the number of students enrolled has dropped to fewer than 100.
Around 14,000 teachers and educational assistants were not regularized, while more than 46,000 surplus teachers were transferred to remote schools, far from their homes.
On the pretext that appointments of principals were based on merit, promotions of nearly 25,000 senior teachers under the in-service quota were also blocked.
Despite professional competence and long teaching experience, teachers’ jobs were put at risk by making the “teaching license” mandatory. Starting in 2026, teachers will need to pass a test to obtain a teaching license.
A total of 120,000 teaching positions from grades 14 to 20 remain vacant, including 74,000 primary, primary and secondary school teaching positions. The vacancies also include 3,661 grade 17 principals, 1,173 grade 18 officers and almost 900 positions in grades 19 and 20.
Due to the outsourcing policy, the number of educational institutions decreased from 52,000 to 38,000. The update of Quran Teachers, IT Lab Incharges, Lab Assistants and Lab Assistants could not be carried out.
More than 5,000 teachers were issued show-cause notices and FIRs were registered against them for refusing to carry out tasks related to the socio-economic registration survey.
Nearly 1,500 improved evening schools were closed due to financial constraints. Some 32 teachers’ organizations and their 61 groups also failed to have their demands accepted during the year.
Teachers and non-teaching staff received no relief, while pensions saw a record reduction.
Due to hardship transfers and political ties, many primary schools were left empty or forced to operate with only one teacher.
Leaders of the Punjab SES Teachers’ Association, including Nadeem Iqbal and Muhammad Shafiq Bhalowalia, Punjab Educators’ Association president Malik Amjad and Punjab Teachers’ Union general secretary Rana Liaquat Ali, termed the year 2025 as a year focused solely on policy introduction. They said six policies were implemented but all of them failed.
They demanded the formulation of a national education policy, an end to privatization, new recruitments for vacant posts and an end to polling duties on elections, polio and dengue assigned to teachers.
They warned that until teachers are financially secure and professionally respected, the education system will remain in ruins.
Meanwhile, Punjab Education Minister Rana Sikandar said that thanks to effective education policies, exam results in public schools were excellent this year.
He said teachers were being provided with scooters, easy loans and laptops, and claimed that outsourcing would improve the teaching system.
