Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz has directed provincial cabinet members to adopt a public school for one day each week, requiring them to physically teach a class. The move aims to improve the standard of education and keep officials grounded in the realities of the province’s grassroots infrastructure.
The directive, issued during a recent cabinet meeting, mandates that ministers spend time in classrooms rather than just reviewing reports from behind a desk. For the provincial education minister, the requirement is mandatory: one full lecture must be delivered in a government school every week.
Critics have long argued that government officials remain disconnected from the crumbling state of public schools, where dilapidated buildings and teacher absenteeism remain chronic issues. By forcing ministers into the classroom, the Chief Minister hopes to bridge the gap between policy formulation and classroom execution.
“I want them to see the conditions firsthand,” the Chief Minister told her cabinet. She expects these visits to produce more than just photo opportunities. Officials are now tasked with identifying gaps in facilities, teaching quality, and student enrollment, and reporting those findings directly to her office.
While the order signals a shift in administrative oversight, the challenge remains in the execution. Previous attempts to monitor school performance through bureaucratic reporting have often failed due to falsified data and lack of accountability. Whether a weekly lecture can actually shift the trajectory of Punjab’s education sector—which serves millions of children across thousands of schools—is a question that will be answered by the consistency of these visits.
For now, the provincial education department is drafting the implementation framework. Ministers are expected to begin their weekly rotations starting later this month.
The success of this initiative will not be measured by the number of lectures delivered, but by whether the ministers’ presence leads to tangible repairs, better supplies, and a long-overdue overhaul of the system.
