The Punjab government is moving forward with its school privatization plan by transferring 4,453 more government schools to private organizations and NGOs next week. This follows an earlier phase where 5,863 schools were already privatized.
The goal is to eventually privatize a total of 13,219 schools. A third phase is set for September, during which 2,903 additional schools will be privatized.
Critics, including teachers’ groups, argue that this privatization will result in higher fees and worsen the problem of children not attending school.
Currently, there are 27 million out-of-school children in Punjab. They also accuse the government of failing to uphold its constitutional responsibility to provide free education to all.
