Punjab school secretariats are planned for the north, centre and south of the province, after the government decided in principle to divide the school education department into three regional set-ups, each with its own secretary and offices.
The provincial education ministry will carry out the change, with the three regional administrations working from Rawalpindi, Lahore and Multan, putting decisions nearer the schools.
Each region will have its own secretariat and Directorate of Public Instruction (DPI), replacing a system in which the big administrative decisions all pass through the provincial department in Lahore.
What the Punjab school secretariats will change
South Punjab will be run from Multan, Central Punjab from Lahore and North Punjab from Rawalpindi.
Central Punjab has the most government schools, 15,671, against 12,308 in the south and 7,416 in the north. Between them the three regions cover about 10.19 million students and 302,028 teachers.
The 2026-27 budget gives the school education department Rs600.78 billion for current spending and Rs13.18 billion for development, Rs613.96 billion in all.
On October 1 the department set up a Rationalisation Cell to review its structure, posts, staffing, workload and overlapping responsibilities, and to find better ways to use staff.
Separately, the department has ordered a check of the records of about 300,000 teachers and other employees in the School Information System, to be matched against sanctioned posts, actual postings and payroll details. Accurate records will be needed to staff the three regions.
The Express Tribune reported that the restructuring plan was decided in principle and that the ministry has been told to implement it.
Teachers’ union warns of extra cost
Not everyone backs the plan. Punjab Teachers Union Secretary General Rana Liaqat Ali said three new secretariats would cost the department more money.
He said it would do no good while all policies were still made at the provincial level, and three new secretariats would only add offices and spending.
The change comes as Punjab’s schools face other pressures. The Punjab Labour Code 2026 extends cover to gig workers, and Maryam removed the Jhelum DC over an exam postponement K-P universities face a Rs5.6bn deficit, showing that education funding is tight across provinces, while heatwaves threaten food security in Punjab and Lahore food prices stay high despite official cuts.
Child protection committees for every district
In a second move, the Punjab government plans Child Protection Committees in every district.
The Child Protection and Welfare Bureau wants the committees — students, teachers and parents — in government schools across Punjab. Its chairperson, Sarah Ahmed, has sent the proposal to the school education secretary, and the department is working to set the committees up in all districts.
Children would be taught about good and bad touch, physical boundaries, and how to spot and report inappropriate behaviour, alongside lessons on cyberbullying, harassment, grooming, exploitation, safe social media use and privacy.
The move follows stark figures from the National Commission on the Rights of Child: police registered 17,348 cases of sexual offences against children across Pakistan in 2025, nearly 74 per cent of them in Punjab. Punjab Police registered 33,449 FIRs on child rights violations and sexual abuse that year, with 4,727 convictions. The FIR figure covers a wider range of offences, so not all 33,449 were sexual abuse cases.
Recent cases show why the committees matter: a Lodhran principal was arrested in November 2024 over claims he sexually assaulted a seventh-grade student, a Kot Addu principal was booked in April last year over an alleged attempt to rape a fourth-grade student, and a Muzaffargarh madrassa teacher was arrested a month later for raping an 11-year-old student.
The department had already told government schools in October 2025 to set up anti-harassment committees within 30 days, to take complaints in confidence, protect complainants, run fair inquiries and report to district education authorities. The new proposal goes further, adding child and parental participation, preventive education and online safety.
Former Punjab Teachers Union president Allah Rakha Gujjar said the child protection helpline 1121 needed wider publicity, and the good and bad touch lessons had to suit the children’s age. He said the lessons should make clear that abuse is never a child’s fault, and that teachers should listen calmly, ask no blaming questions, keep things confidential and pass concerns on instead of investigating them. Digital safety lessons, he said, should cover grooming, blackmail and the dangers of sharing personal images or information.
What happens next
The education ministry must now work out staffing, offices and the transfer of powers from Lahore, guided by the Rationalisation Cell’s findings.
Frequently asked questions
What are the Punjab school secretariats?
They are three regional offices for the school education department, one each for North, Central and South Punjab, with separate secretaries and Directorates of Public Instruction.
Where will the three secretariats be based?
North Punjab will be run from Rawalpindi, Central Punjab from Lahore and South Punjab from Multan.
How many students and teachers do they cover?
The three regions cover about 10.19 million students and 302,028 teachers in 35,395 government schools.
What is the Punjab school education budget?
Punjab’s 2026-27 budget allocated Rs600.78 billion for current spending and Rs13.18 billion for development, a total of Rs613.96 billion.
What are the Child Protection Committees?
They are committees of students, teachers and parents planned for government schools in every district, to teach children about safety, boundaries and reporting abuse, and to handle complaints in confidence.
