KP govt to outsource low-performing, nonfunctional primary schools.

PESHAWAR -- The elementary and secondary education department has decided to hand over the low-performing and nonfunctional primary government schools across the province to the private sector in the next academic year slated to begin in next April, officials say.

The officials told Dawn that around 650 government schools already identified as low-performing and nonfunctional ones would be outsourced in the next three years under the Rs1.252 billion pilot project.

They said the schools with 30 students and three or more teachers, and 80 students and one teacher would be covered by the initiative.

The officials said 2,638 government primary schools with 80 students and two or less teachers would be outsourced afterward.

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They said the government would pay Rs1,000 monthly fee for a student to the private firm tasked with managing the school.

The officials said the firm would hire teachers, while the current teachers would be transferred from those schools to the nearest ones.

Performance of firms engaged for initiative will be monitored, say officials

They said the education department would soon float an advertisement in local newspapers inviting private firms for the initiative, while bidding for the purpose would take place under the KP Public Procurement Authority Rules.

The officials said several prominent chains of private schools had shown interest in getting control of government schools.

They said the education department would establish a project management unit at the provincial secretariat for overseeing the schools to be outsourced, while staff members for the unit would be hired from the private sector for a specific period.

'The main objective of the project is to improve things at low-performing public schools through public-private partnership,' read an...