Education, deemed as the most significant marker for progress in any nation, is kept at an unbelievably low rung of Pakistan’s priority ladder. Therefore, it comes as no surprise that the country has a literacy rate of only 62.3%, and around 26.2 million out-of-school children aged 5-16. Late-stage capitalism has also seeped into educational institutes that now operate in almost every other residential street for the sole purpose of profit-making – leeching off desperate families and competing with one another to become the most coveted status symbol while completely ignoring their legal duties.
As per the Right to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2012, private schools are supposed to reserve at least 10% of their total seats for underprivileged students and offer zero-fee education. Not only that, but the Punjab Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2024, goes further and requires private schools in the province to reserve 10% of seats in every single class.
The Senate Standing Committee on Federal Education has taken notice of the failure on the part of these institutions to live up to this social, moral and legal obligation – highlighting that these schools are breaking this law despite pocketing billions of rupees annually. Hardly any of Pakistan’s 137,234 private institutions, according to 2021-22 statistics, offer underprivileged students this provision, turning what should be a public good into an inflation-ridden business model.
This isn’t even the first warning. These schools have been notified and threatened with action previously in 2023 as well, but neither did the schools comply nor was it followed by any of the ‘stern legal action’ that was promised. It is collective failure on the part of the government and these institutes, and this warning must now be followed by action before another generation of children grows up without a basic right of a developing economy.
Editorial Published in Express Tribune on July 17th, 2026.
