Teachers Rally Against Government Policies, Warn of Educational Crisis in Punjab

On International Education Day, all teachers’ organizations and associations representing private schools in Pakistan expressed their opposition to the government’s education policies. They branded these measures as stopgap and anti-education policies. In Punjab, enrollment in government schools has seen a significant decline over the past two years.

In 2022, there were approximately 53,000 government schools; today, this number has dropped to around 38,000. No regular teachers have been recruited for the past decade, and nearly two hundred days out of one year are spent on holidays. Over the last five years, the primary section has alternated between Urdu and English mediums before being discontinued entirely in favor of privatization.

President Abrar Ahmed Khan, head of the All Pakistan Private Schools Management Association, stated that Pakistan does not have a consistent education policy to celebrate International Education Day. He criticized the government’s imposition of commercial taxes on private schools as deeply anti-educational.

Irfan Muzaffar Kiani, president of the All Pakistan Private Schools and Colleges Association, highlighted that Punjab has 38,000 to 40,000 government schools and over 100,000 private schools. Despite receiving no institutional support from the government, private schools manage without direct assistance.

Kiani warned that if private schools are not supported by tax relief and reduced holidays, there could be a surge of up to 50 million out-of-school street children in Punjab. He urged the government to make private schools tax-free and free them from excessive holidays, which he believed would help reintegrate street children back into educational settings.

Malik Naseem Ahmed, president of the All Pakistan Private Schools Association, called for an immediate 20-year education policy developed with input from the private sector to address enrollment issues among street children, particularly girls in both public and private schools. Central Secretary Rana Liaqat of the Punjab Teachers’ Union warned that continued sales of government schools have pushed students out due to rising tuition fees.

These voices underscore the challenges faced by Pakistan’s education system, with a significant reliance on private schools for educational continuity amidst ongoing policy uncertainties and resource constraints.