several lady teachers were staging protests across the province. Even though notifications have been issued in this regard, Hamid claimed that the teachers were yet to get permanent status and benefit from financial security.
The minister in response said teachers with the required qualifications and three year tenure were being regularised and 109,000 teachers were regularised in 2010, 30,045 in 2011, and 16,666 in 2012. Mashhood also defended the government’s transfers policy for government teachers as he claimed it had significantly improved the teacher attendance rate to 96 percent and weeded out inefficient teachers without qualifications. Mashhood informed 20,000 Education District Officers had been removed as a part of actions against corrupt and inefficient employees. After interjections by independent MPA Ehsan Riaz Fatyana and PTI MPA Nausheed Hamid, Mashhood insisted that Chief Minister Punjab Shahbaz Sharif does not exercise personal influence and allows the Schools and Education Department a free-hand in recruitments and transfers. The Deputy Speaker breaking from his neutrality supported the Education Minister stating to dissatisfied lawmakers on both benches that the state of education in his constituency in Rajanpur had improved with increased recruitment of qualified teachers.
Mashhood faced grilling questions by PML-N MPA Nighat Sheikh on lack of operations against unregistered schools and overcharging by private schools. The minister justified the lack of action taken against unregistered schools stating that efforts were underway to reform the schools in order to not deprive enrolled students. Mashhood stated that Punjab Education Foundation was providing education to more than 100 million students with all expenses paid by the government. The minister stated that the long delayed government bill on regulation of private schools had been approved by the Standing Committee on Education and was pending cabinet approval. PML-N MPA Nighat Sheikh however remained unsatisfied and lamented that profitable private schools were benefitting due to the absence of an effective law.
Leader of Opposition PTI MPA Mian Mehmood-ur-Rasheed echoed remarks made by Sheikh and claimed that no new government school had been built in the last 20 years in order to boost the profits of private institutions. Mashhood meanwhile in response stated that 800 schools under Punjab Education Foundation had been set up only in Lahore Division. He added that Punjab Textbook and Curriculum Authority had also in an unprecedented move devised a syllabus for grades 1 to 10.
The situation of missing facilities and dangerous school buildings was also brought to the notice of the House after PML-N MPA Bao Akhter Ali stated that Government Girls High School, Baghwanpura did not receive the needed funds to fix its buildings and ensure drinking water. In addition, Ali pointed that 20 schools requiring furniture in PP-144 did not receive funds for purchase.