The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government is considering turning over management of 55 public-sector colleges to private hands, months after it moved ahead with a similar plan involving 1,500 schools.
The Higher Education Department (HED) has drafted a list of colleges under review, with the largest number—seven institutions—located in Dera Ismail Khan, the home district of both Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur and Governor Faisal Karim Kundi. Swabi, represented by Education Minister Faisal Tarakai, follows with six. Other districts, including South Waziristan and Karak (five each), Battagram and Bannu (four each), and Orakzai (three), are also part of the proposed plan.
Smaller numbers of colleges in Abbottabad, Haripur, Mansehra, Nowshera, Kurram, Shangla, and Kohistan (two each), as well as Peshawar, Hangu, Lower Dir, Malakand, North Waziristan, and FR Tank (one each), are on the list as well.
Government Justification: “Boosting Efficiency”
HED Secretary Kamran Afridi said the proposal is not final but aims to “increase the capacity” of struggling institutions. According to Afridi, many of these colleges fail to meet the basic enrollment threshold of 500 students required for new colleges, with some reporting figures in double digits or hosting what he called “bogus admissions.”
“There are colleges where students exist only on paper,” he noted, arguing that private management could help address inefficiencies and improve education quality.
Afridi stressed that faculty members would not face layoffs. Instead, teachers from affected colleges would be reassigned to nearby institutions already struggling with shortages. KP currently has over 3,000 vacant teaching positions awaiting cabinet approval.
Pushback From Educators
The plan has sparked resistance from educators’ associations. Abdul Hameed Afridi, President of the Professors, Lecturers, and Librarians Association, claimed teachers voiced strong objections to the Higher Education Minister Meena Khan Afridi. The minister, he said, assured them that colleges facing opposition would not be privatized.
Critics argue that privatization avoids tackling deeper problems. “Except for a handful in remote areas, most government colleges are performing well,” said Abdul Hameed Afridi. “The real issues are lack of teachers, insufficient facilities, and security concerns. Without solving these, how can privatization guarantee better results?”
Public colleges in KP have historically produced top performers in competitive exams, a point educators are highlighting as evidence that the system’s core problems lie in governance, not quality of teaching.
