Empowering Schools, Engaging Communities: School Principals’ Experiences of Educational Decentralization in Punjab, Pakistan

Alina Rukhsar, Dr. Tayyeb Ali Khan — Fri, 01 May 2026 00:00:00 +0500

This study explores the effects of educational decentralization in Punjab, Pakistan, through the perspective of public-school principals in the Sheikhupura district. This study explores decentralization of education in Punjab, Pakistan, and its impact on school governance and education. Despite the reforms of 18 constitutional amendments, challenges like limitation of resources, weak accountability, and administrative isssues still there, which affect the school education system. The study explore these issues from the perspective of a public school principal in the district of Sheikhupura of Punjab, Pakistan. A qualitative approach has been used in which semi-structured interviews with 20 public school principals in the district of Sheikhpura were conducted. Data were analyzed through reflexive thematic analysis using Principal Agent theory and Resource dependency Theory. The results show increased local decision-making and community engagement, but there were still problems with bureaucratic inadequacies, inadequate access to resources, limited financial autonomy, and an unclear authority system. Transparent accountability, equal resource distribution, a capacity-building program, and governance reforms are recommended to improve the outcomes of the decentralization.

Problems of Federalism and Provincial Autonomy in Pakistan during the Military Rule of General Ziaul Haq (1977-1988)

Fayyaz Ahmad Hussain, Dr. Abdul Basit Khan, Naila Younas — Sat, 02 May 2026 00:00:00 +0500

The modern governments require wider legislative powers particularly with respect to the economic and fiscal fields in order to fulfil the objectives of socio-political welfare of its citizenry, therefore, centralization of state authority is normally adopted as a constituent ingredient of federal systems by the ruling elite. A centralized political authority is attained through knitting such organizational structures where the decision making capability and authority rest with only the top tier of management whereas decentralized organizational arrangements function while establishing such hierarchies which work through delegating decision-making capabilities to multiple teams across different territorial boundaries. Various Martial Law regimes in Pakistan preferred to excessively apply a highly centralized model of exercising state authority and the Zia regime of 1980s was not an exception in that regard. Based on these arguments, the current work examines the constitutional maneuverings and the consequent problems of federalism faced by the state of Pakistan during the Zia rule and analyses different measures taken by that regime which, in one way or the other, were related to that problem. It finds that the Provisional Constitutional Order of 1981, the Constitutional Amendment Formula of 1983 and the Revival of Constitution Order (RCO) of March 1985 undermined the federal nature of the 1973 constitution quite seriously and a complete absence of provincial autonomy had exacerbated the issues of national integration. The study recommends that the integrity and unity of Pakistan can be saved by applying federal solution to its various political and constitutional problems and ensuring the maximum provincial autonomy.

Journal of Development and Social Sciences

Empowering Schools, Engaging Communities: School Principals’ Experiences of Educational Decentralization in Punjab, Pakistan

Problems of Federalism and Provincial Autonomy in Pakistan during the Military Rule of General Ziaul Haq (1977-1988)