ISLAMABAD: Former Senator and council member of Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) Farhatullah Babar on Thursday showed his grave concerns over the alarming number of 26 million out-ofschool children (OOSC) in the country, stating that in Islamabad alone 24 plots for public schools were lying vacant where thousands of children could get education.

He was speaking at a dialogue organised by HRCP and the Institute of Development Research and Corresponding Capabilities (IDRAC) on the implications of outsourcing schools in Punjab.

The participants agreed that rather than privatisation, it is the fundamental respon-sibility of the government to itself provide education to all children and allocate at least 4pc of its GDP to education as per universally accepted standards.

Mr Babar said that the country had been facing the challenge of 26 million OOSC. He said that in the federal capital, there were 24 plots of public schools, which were lying vacant for years and if schools were built on these plots, at least in Islamabad, the issue of OOSC could be overcome. But no serious effort was made to construct schools on these plots by the government.

He said that instead of constructing schools, last year, the education ministry tried to hand over one of its prime plots measuring 21 kanals in sector F-11 to aprivate firm for construction and running a school under public-private partnership.

`Thanks to teachers and Islamabad High Court that project could not be executed,` he said and deplored that for resisting this move the director general of Federal Directorate of Education had to sacrifice his job.

Mr Babar said now a proposal is being discussed by the education ministry to auction one of the 24 vacant plots for constructing schools on other plots.

`This is an innovative way, he said and added that instead of looking towards private sectors, the state should take responsibility for investing in the education sector. He said besides the 26 million OOSC,the population of the country had been facing rapid increase and to cater to the need of new children, there was also a need of construction of 33000 new schools per year.

Talking about outsourcing schools in Punjab, the former senator offered a political perspective, questioning whether the provincial government`s strategy aligns with addressing systemic issues or risks widening existing disparities.

His critique challenged policymakers to rethink the outsourcing initiatives through public-private-partnership could potentially impact on equity and governance. Mr Babar specifically highlighted the concerns for the ownership of the school premises. Staff Reporter