The Punjab government has launched a review of government middle and high schools with critically low enrollment as officials assess the use of teaching staff and public resources.
The School Education Department has directed district authorities to verify schools where fewer than 20 students are enrolled in a class. After the review, authorities may transfer teachers from low-enrollment schools to institutions with higher student numbers and merge or reorganize schools where necessary.
The move follows the province’s poor Class 9 examination results. Of 1,395,475 students who appeared in the annual examinations conducted by Punjab’s nine education boards, 641,662 passed while 753,813 failed, producing a 45.98% pass rate.
Education experts have linked the weak results to teacher shortages, inadequate facilities, weak foundational learning, inconsistent attendance and limited academic support. Punjab Teachers Union Secretary General Rana Liaqat Ali also urged the government to improve public schools instead of pursuing privatization.
Punjab also faces a major out-of-school children crisis, with recent estimates placing the number at six to seven million. Poverty, child labor, early marriage, long travel distances, inadequate facilities and financial difficulties continue to keep many children outside the education system.
Experts have called for improvements in teacher recruitment, infrastructure, curriculum implementation and assessment methods alongside efforts to bring out-of-school children into classrooms.
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