Lahore
In Pakistan’s Punjab province, the Education Department abolished 44,000 posts of government school teachers under the ‘outsourcing campaign to the private sector’. Teachers say that this decision will increase unemployment among the youth, who are already getting upset due to salaries, jobs and trimming in private sector. According to reliable sources of Punjab School Education Department, now it will depend on the owners of the private sector to appoint teachers according to their policy. School teacher Humaira said, “The private sector is already cutting the number of employees, cutting the salaries of those kept. Millions of employees have been fired. They give the reason for this that they have to cut a minimum cut due to losses in business.”
Humaira said, “It is shocking to see that the government is privatizing the institutions. I work as a teacher in a private school. I know how difficult it is. We are being put on more work. This latest decision of the Punjab Education Department came at a time when thousands of young graduates were waiting for the recruitment process to start in government sector institutions.
Teachers union are demanding from the government to start recruitment and fill the vacant posts, which have been pending for the last seven years.
There is a shortage of at least 1,00,000 teachers since the last recruitment campaign in government schools in Punjab province. Government school teacher Mishal said, “The lack of 100,000 or more teachers in government schools has negatively impacted the education of students. And now, the end of 44,000 jobs will have a serious impact on the overall education system.” Statistics show that at least 26.2 million children were not going to school in Pakistan in 2021-22. In addition, Pakistan’s unemployment rate for 2023 was 5.41 percent. According to a recent report, at least 4.5 million people in the country are unemployed, while the unemployment rate has increased to at least 6.3 percent during 2024.