Under 12s pin hopes on LHC to sit for papers

Parents urge BISE to end age limit condition set for students.

LAHORE: Students wanting to sit for the Class IX examination have pinned their hopes on the Lahore High Court to lift the 12-year age limit set by the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education (BISE).

A division bench, headed by Justice Shams Mehmood Mirza, was hearing several petitions of parents of under-12 students and an intra court appeal of BISE. After arguments from both sides, the bench reserved its judgment.

Parents sought directions for the BISE to end this condition, while the BISE filed an intra-court appeal against the judgment of Chief Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah who declared the prerequisite as illegal and unconstitutional.

Parents of students pinned hopes on the LHC for relief against the BISE’s age restriction. Some were even present at the court to learn about the latest updates in the case.

Muhammad Afzal, father of a student Maham Afzal, told The Express Tribune that his daughter was three months short of meeting the age limit criteria to appear for the examination. He said children would have to get themselves registered for the ninth class examination after two months. He claimed the school administration asked him to get a new birth certificate for his daughter from the union council, showing her age as three months older than the actual.



He said the father of one Student resolved the matter after paying Rs30,000 to UC and NADRA officials. He said he learnt through the media that the LHC has taken up the matter and given relief to some students in this regard.

The petitioner said his daughter was not registered for the examination only because she was three months younger and would lose a whole academic year as a result.

He continued that there were some other class fellows of his daughter who were under 12 years of age and their parents were trying their best to meet the age limit condition set by the BISE.

Appearing before the LHC on Wednesday, Advocate Sheraz Zaka, counsel for Raeesa Hafeez, submitted that the age of his client was 11 years and seven months when she was not being allowed to get registered for the examination last year. He said on the directives of the LHC, the BISE allowed her to sit for the paper.

He said according to Section 1-A, of Chapter 19 of the BISE Calendar, students under 12 years of age were not allowed to take the Class IX examination. He said there was no such provision in the Punjab Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2014.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 25^th, 2017.