PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa elementary and Secondary Education Department has outsourced 500 low-performing government primary schools in the province to private partners.
In the second phase, another 1,500 such schools will be outsourced and the paperwork has already started on it, officials in the education department told Dawn on condition of anonymity.
They said out of 500 low-performing schools, 273 schools have already been handed over to the private partners in the winter zone where academic activities have been started.
The officials said the remaining 227 schools would be handed over to them in September in the summer zone.
Paperwork to hand over 1,500 more schools to private sector begins, say officials
They said those government schools had been outsourced to the prominent private partners, including Beaconhouse School System, Sarhad Rural Support Programme, Dopasi Foundation, Hands Foundation and many others.
Official data shows that the outsourced schools in the first phase include 46 in Mansehra, 45 each in Abbottabad and Haripur, 30 in Bajaur, 28 in Bannu, 25 in Kohat, 22 in Swat, 21 in Karak, 19 in Mardan, 18 in Nowshera, 16 in Buner, 13 in Tank, 12 each in Shangla and Lower Kohistan, 11 in Lakki Marwat and 10 each in Lower Chitral, Kurram and Dera Ismail Khan.
The education department has declared government primary schools with less than 40 enrolled students as low-performing schools and identified 4,147 such schools across the province.
Officials told Dawn that under the agreement with private partners, they were bound to increase the enrolment to 180 students in every outsourced primary school.
They said the objectives of outsourcing the schools aimed to leverage the expertise and resources of both public and private sectors to improve access to equitable and quality education, while duly prioritising the girls’ education and underserved areas.
The officials said under the agreement with private partners, the education department would provide school building and a watchman, payment of Rs1,500 for each enrolled student as per the agreement and provision of textbooks, furniture and fixtures by the government.
They said the private partners to whom schools had been outsourced were responsible for ensuring effective management of school operation, providing teaching and learning services, hiring of teaching and non-teaching staff, payment of all expenditure arising from school operations, repair and maintenance of school premises, infrastructure and furniture and fixtures.
Official documents reveal that the private partners will operate, manage and maintain the school for delivery of quality education to the children of that vicinity.
They will ensure maximum enrolment of eligible students up to the primary level, implement the government-approved curriculum and syllabus, and to help faculty enhance their pedagogical and classroom management skills in alignment with the student learning outcomes established by the government.
According to the documents, the private partners are responsible to recruit the best available teaching staff to deliver quality education, to employ various strategies to increase and retain student enrolments, including community outreach for parental and community support, to coordinate with the regional and district education authorities for monitoring and quality control, and to expand learning opportunities for all students, particularly those at risk of academic failure.
Officials said the education department had also framed key performance indicators (KPIs) to uplift the education in the low-performing schools and to compel the private partners in a standardised manner.
They said the KPIs included providing clean drinking water in the schools, availability of back-up power options including generator, UPS, solar system, maintenance of washrooms is very critical for the hygiene of students, promotion of girls’ education, student attendance, the presence and availability of dedicated teachers and their high qualification.
Published in Dawn, April 12th, 2026.
