Out of 1,809 government schools in Rawalpindi district, 323 will be outsourced to the Punjab Education Foundation (PEF) starting September 1. The PEF, an autonomous body established in 1991 by the Punjab government to promote education through public-private partnerships, will assign these schools to individuals, NGOs, and other organizations for management.
The Punjab Teachers Association has strongly opposed this move, announcing plans for protests against the provincial government’s decision to outsource schools to PEF and the Punjab Education Initiatives Management Authority (PEIMA) under the guise of reorganization.
Across the province, 13,219 schools will be outsourced to the PEF, which will then transfer them to various entities for operation. The PEF will cover utility bills, while private organizations will hire teachers on daily wages. The Punjab government will provide PEF with a Rs700 fee per student, which will be used to pay the teachers based on student enrollment.
District Education Authority Rawalpindi Chief Executive Officer Yaseen Khan Baloch confirmed that the list of 323 schools is finalized and will be handed over to PEF by September 1. These schools generally have fewer students, ranging from 50 to 100, and are located in remote areas with reported teacher shortages.
The initiative aims to improve educational quality and address the issue of out-of-school children. The outsourcing plan will be implemented in three phases, starting with the 323 schools in the first phase. The goal is to attract out-of-school children back into the education system and enhance the educational standards to match those of private schools.
However, Punjab Teacher Association General Secretary Raja Shahid Mubarrak criticized the decision, highlighting that no new teachers have been recruited in the past six years, leaving 120,000 teaching positions vacant. He argued that a few teachers could manage 100 students if not occupied with other duties such as dengue and polio drives. He also mentioned that previous experiences with outsourcing to PEF faced issues due to delayed funding, leading to protests. Mubarrak announced upcoming protests in Rawalpindi and Lahore, following a recent demonstration in Murree.
