Punjab Approves 26,898 New School Posts Without Additional Budget Burden

Punjab Finance Department Sanctions 26,898 New Jobs in Public Schools Without Any Additional Fiscal Burden

In a major step towards bettering the public school system, the Punjab Finance Department has sanctioned the establishment of 26,898 posts for 1,961 new and upgraded public schools in the School Education Department. This is done as a strategic step to offset the abolition of 43,960 posts in the erstwhile outsourced schools.

An official announcement, released on May 16, 2025, ensures the new manpower setup will be instituted without placing any added financial burden on the provincial government. Rather than making new recruitments, the government will make use of a rationalization approach, transferring current teachers and support personnel from schools with too many teachers to others with deficiencies, following the Student-Teacher Ratio (STR) and suitability of staff from closed outsourced schools.

Rationalization Over Recruitment

The announcement is clear that no fresh recruitment will be done. Instead, the available workforce will be optimized to achieve staffing needs in newly opened and upgraded schools. The reasonableness measure is meant to optimize the use of available human resources while ensuring educational quality and coverage within the province.

Breakdown of Approved Posts

The newly sanctioned positions are distributed across various categories of school development and upgrades as follows:

1. Newly Established Schools

2. School-Based Cadre (SBC)

3. Upgraded Schools (ADP & SBC Initiatives)

This important administrative move is in alignment with the provincial government's resolve to augment public education infrastructure, guarantee adequacy of staff, and uphold budgetary prudence. By pursuing internal adjustments before resorting to external hiring, Punjab establishes a precedent for successful public sector reform through fiscal prudence.