No govt school being privatised: minister

LAHORE: Punjab’s Caretaker Information Minister Aamir Mir on Sunday denied the rumours that any government school has been handed over to a private educational institution.

He said that the Punjab government has not taken any decision to privatise government schools and urged the public to stop spreading false information.

“No government school has been transferred to any private educational institution, and there has been no decision to privatise government schools,” he said.

He also praised the efforts of the caretaker Punjab chief minister Mohsin Naqvi, who he said is working diligently to improve the conditions of government schools.

The minister’s statement came amid widespread protests by thousands of government school teachers across Punjab against the proposed privatisation of public schools.

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The teachers have been boycotting classes, locking classrooms, and holding rallies and sit-ins for the last few days. They have also rejected the amendments in leave encashment and pension rules, and demanded group insurance on retirement.

The police have cracked down on the protesters, arresting more than 100 teachers and students, and using tear gas and batons to disperse them. The protesters have threatened to intensify their agitation if their demands are not met by the government.

The privatisation controversy was sparked by the caretaker government’s decision to hand over 1,000 public schools in Punjab to a non-governmental organisation (NGO) as part of a public-private partnership programme.

The NGO, which claims to provide quality education to underprivileged children, has been accused of mismanagement and corruption by the teachers’ unions.

Earlier, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf leader, Munis Elahi, had alleged that Punjab’s Caretaker Chief Minister Mohsin Naqvi was treating the infrastructure of government schools as personal property.

In a recent statement, Elahi criticized the chief minister, accusing him of allocating highly valuable properties and facilities to privately favoured institutions in the province.

He stated that the interim chief minister was distributing the infrastructure of government schools as if it were personal property.

Elahi emphasized that the constitution and the law do not permit such actions by the interim provincial government.

He had warned that such unauthorized privatization would result in a substantial increase in fees and lead to illegal profiteering in the field of education.