According to officials in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the Elementary and Secondary Education (E&SE) Department of KPK has finalized the proposed bill on providing free and mandatory education at the primary and secondary level for children under 5 to 16 years of age.
E&SE said that it was a constitutional obligation of the provinces to provide education for the children and for that purpose this law was formulated. The other three provincial governments have already passed legislation in this regard from their provincial assemblies.
However, successive governments in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have so far failed to fulfill this constitutional necessity, they said.
Article 25A of the Constitution states:
“The state shall provide free and compulsory education to all children of the age of five to 16 years in such a manner as may be determined by law.” This article was merged into the Constitution through its 18th amendment.
Sindh, Punjab and Balochistan have already passed similar laws.
The proposed bill has already been scrutinized by the provincial law department and is ready to be further discussed at the next cabinet meeting for approval, the officials said. Later on it would be tabled in the provincial assembly.
They said that the proposed bill was on the agenda of the previous cabinet meeting held on Jan 24, but was dropped as Minister for Elementary and Secondary Education Mohammad Atif Khan was abroad.
As per the officials; under the draft bill, parents who don’t send children to school would be subjected to punishment with imprisonment up to one month, or a fine. This may extend up to Rs. 100 for every day they don’t send children to schools or with both.
Section 5 of the proposed bill states:
“Government may, by notification, constitute a School Attendance Authority (SAA) for each school for the purpose of this act and shall consist of members, as may be determined by government.”
It further states that SAA would make sure that every child shall attend a school under its power and shall take such steps as it may consider necessary or as may be stated by the government.
Justifiable excuses for not attending the school by a child (for a short time period) are also listed. They relate to the incapability of a child to attend school due to sickness, weakness, mental incapacity or where there is no school within a distance of two kilometers radius of the child’s residence.
The proposed bill allows the SAA to launch a Taleem Fund. This fund will be maintained at an organized bank for the welfare of the students.
Section 7 (2) of the draft bill states:
“The Fund (Taleem Fund) shall consist of grants made by the federal, provincial, district governments and all voluntary contribution from the philanthropists, alumni, students and parents.”
When asked how the law would be executed in areas where the government schools are unavailable, as per media, they would establish the exact number of out-of-school children through the ongoing survey of the education department which will be completed approximately by the end of February.
“The provincial government will enroll the out-of-school children in private schools in the areas where there are no government schools.”
When questions were raised about the private schools in an area, the official said that the next option with the education department would be to establish a community school. According to him ” over 1,436 community schools had already been functioning in the province”.
The said law is binding the provincial governments to provide all the citizens with basic compulsory education free of cost at the same level of educational exposure.
Source:Dawn
KPK Govt finally wake up to finalize this bill. PTI Govt did not give the importance to KPK what this province indeed needed.
They don’t spend public money on what they have done in their province unlike PMLN which wastes public money on every thing just like that failed Nandipur Project which costed billions but turned out to be useless!
Yea yea they don’t spend public money because they have no plan to spend on.
PTI youthyas use all sl@ngs for PMLN for spending on infrastructure but PTI itself didn’t even do anything for health and education it cries over. A person who belongs to Punjab or Sindh and has never been to KPK during last five years makes solid claims of change in KPK but ground reality is completely different. I voted for PTI and it completely failed in my province.
PTI ki frustration ki wajha bhe yahi ha, they want to keep their vote bank after failing to deliver even for very prioritized sectors. Abuse, criticism 24/7, choor choor ka shoor, lies, sab kuch but no kaam.
I also voted to PTI, but it did nothing positive for public.
Now one Sharif’s Slave (Ali Salman) will come here and tell all
This is nothing in front of Orange Train + Metro Bus..and this KPK govt is wasting people’s money by implementing these laws.. see what our Rohani ABBUs “both Sharifs” are doing to make this country Roshan Pakistan.
Yea I was PTI slave when I voted for them in 2013, you are running out of argument ? Your abbu ge woke up after 4 years with this bill? Trump issued an executive order on day 1st, your abbu ge always gives examples of west , why this bill after 4 years if education was priority for PTI? Coc@ine ly kr soo rahay thy sab?
I don’t use such a language which you inherit from Imran but you people understand the same language of abuse. When I voted for PTI I wasn’t patwari, now I am ? abuse me, you people are really so good in it.
When Zardari did gas agreement with Iran in last quarter of his regime he was criticized, now PTI will hail Imran for this bill which required five years to be actually implemented.
they shall introduce bill for making education free for HEC digrees. full on merit n free for all province students to get chance to study in kp..
this bill is already pass in sindh which is equal to nothing due education quality in govt schools.
So it took them 4 years? By the time it will be ready for implementation, their term will be up…