Draft education policy: Parents may face ‘punishment’ for not sending kids to school

School admission of every child of five-years-age deemed mandatory

RAWALPINDI: Rawalpindi division parents, whose children are not in school, could soon find themselves in trouble once a new education policy drafted by the Punjab education authorities becomes law.

The draft policy also makes it mandatory for children who have reached the age of five to get admission in schools.



The Punjab Education Ministry has drafted the ‘Education Admission Act’ and has now sent the draft bill to the law ministry for further work on it before it is presented before the provincial cabinet and sent to the provincial assembly for deliberation with the hope of having it in effect when the new school year starts.

As per the new law, every child who attains five years of age must be admitted to a school. Moreover, the policy states that the government will leverage records of the National Database Regulatory Authority (NADRA) to monitor the status of school admissions for all children who are five-years-of-age.

Failure to do so would see their parents being held directly responsible and could face punishment.

These punishments could include withdrawal of any form of subsidy given by the government, including grants from the Zakat fund, the Baitul Maal fund, the Benazir Bhutto Income Support (BISP) fund, free medical treatment and health cards.

Parents may also face criminal cases.

Under the draft law, the government has also set a target to admit over 10 million street children into schools.

In villages, parents will be provided with a support fund of Rs1,000 per month for admitting their daughters in schools.

In addition to providing free tuition under Article 25-A of the Constitution, government schools will also provide free books, copies, uniforms and school bags to students.

Moreover, the policy states that students in grades one through four will no longer be declared as ‘failed’ under any circumstances.

To boost recruitment, incentives will be given to private schools which meet or exceed their admission targets.

The Punjab education and literacy department will also establish several formal and informal education centres throughout the province to ensure education for boys and girls who are working in cottage industries, hotels, workshops and brick kilns.

Punjab Literacy and Special Education Minister Raja Rashid Hafeez told Daily Express that the government has a clear focus on education in the new year.

In this regard, Hafeez said that they were enhancing the allocation for education in the new budget.

He added that the government was focusing on the education of adults as well and that basic education was being provided to men, women and people who are transgender.

“We will open literacy centres in areas where there are no government schools. Such centres will also be opened for children in various jails of the province,” Hafeez said, adding that two learning centres have already been set up for people who are transgender in Rawalpindi.

However, they now plan to increase the total number of literacy centres in the province to 100 to ensure the provision of education to people who are transgender.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 14^th, 2018.