The Punjab government has decided to introduce a new law to hold teachers accountable for poor examination results, as part of a broader plan to link their performance with students’ academic outcomes.
The decision was taken during a meeting of the school education department, chaired via video link by Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif, where the performance of government schools and the recent Class 9 examination results came under review.
Expressing concern over the results, the chief minister directed officials to prepare legislation allowing action against teachers where students consistently perform poorly. Immediate action was also ordered in schools where the Class 9 pass rate was below 20 per cent.
The meeting gave in-principle approval for monthly and annual examinations across all classes, while officials were asked to present a detailed timeline and reform plan next week.
Schools producing strong academic results will be rewarded, with awards to be given to the best-performing schools in each district.
The government also decided to introduce evening coaching classes for students struggling academically. The meeting agreed that schools should discourage the practice of removing students because of poor academic performance.
The chief minister directed authorities to fill vacant head teacher posts within 45 days and ensure the availability of subject specialists in government schools. The education minister was tasked with strengthening checks and monitoring at all levels.
Maryam Nawaz also sought district-wise monthly performance ratings of schools. A “Unified Monitoring App” will be introduced to track their performance.
During the meeting, the chief minister expressed satisfaction over the performance of Government Girls High School Bhon/Jhang, while government girls’ high schools in Muzaffargarh and Layyah were cited as securing second and third positions, respectively, on the basis of their results.
The meeting also approved the launch of a pilot “Library on Wheels” project in Lahore. The three-wheeler mobile library will feature solar-powered charging facilities, access to more than 20,000 digital books and video-based learning lectures.
The chief minister also sought a performance report on outsourced schools.
She stressed that merely improving statistics would not address shortcomings in government schools and called for tangible improvement in learning outcomes.
Teachers’ performance, she said, should ultimately be reflected in their students’ results.
