The Grand Teachers Alliance, a Punjab teachers’ union coalition, has declared plans for a major protest in Lahore on September 26 to oppose the government’s school outsourcing initiative. Additionally, schools across the province will close on September 27, with earlier closures starting September 24 in the Rawalpindi division.
This announcement was made by several union leaders at the Rawalpindi Press Club, including Raja Tahir Mehmood, President of the Grand Teachers Alliance Punjab, and Qazi Mohammad Imran, President of the Punjab Teachers Union Rawalpindi district. They emphasized that this marks a critical stage in their protest, which will continue until their demands are met.
Raja Tahir Mehmood strongly criticized the government’s plan, noting it as an attempt to privatize education. He mentioned that the movement in the Rawalpindi division has already begun and will escalate with the closure of schools on September 24.
Qazi Mohammad Imran has urged the government to abandon its privatization plan. He revealed that privatization has spanned decades, with up to 300 government schools privatized in Rawalpindi alone. He highlighted the significant number of over 130,000 vacancies in educational institutions as a critical issue.
Furthermore, he questioned the government’s lack of investment in new government schools and the frequent diversion of teachers to other national campaigns.
A protest also took place in Murree, where Raja Shahid Mubarrak, General Secretary of the Punjab Teachers Association, reiterated that the movement would persist until their demands are recognized.
