Education for all: Draft bill to be perfected by all stakeholders, says education minister

Meeting held to mull over draft law, changes discussed.

PESHAWAR: Minister for Education Atif Khan has said the provincial government is working day and night to enact an effective law that will ensure free education for children under Article 25-A of the Constitution.

He made the statement while addressing a consultation meeting on a draft education bill at a local hotel on Wednesday. The meeting had been organised by Khwendo Kor, in collaboration with the Ministry of Education and Unicef. Participants included educationists, lawyers and other members of the civil society.

Speakers at the gathering said a draft law regarding free education had been tabled before the provincial cabinet and was sent back with reservations, adding the bill has been pending for four years. The minister emphasised the need to pass the bill so children can benefit from free education. But not without perfecting it, he added.

Khan said the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)-led government will include all stakeholders to improve the bill, as some errors had been highlighted in the meeting. “PTI’s priority is to minimise the proposed law’s shortcomings and pass the bill in the provincial assembly,” he said, adding they will not send it to the cabinet again till all necessary changes are made.

Stressing on doing a thorough job, Khan said the government was in no hurry and stakeholders should carefully suggest changes to the draft.

For children between the age of five and nine, the official net enrollment ratio in the province is around 68% – 78% for boys and 57% for girls. Unofficial statistics quoted during the meeting revealed that around 54% children were out of school in Peshawar. However, officials from the education department said the gross enrollment rate was 82%.

The official literacy rate for the same age group is around 57% – 74.3% for boys and 36.7% for girls. However, the provincial government has announced plans to raise the overall literacy rate to 76% by the end of 2018.

Reiterating PTI’s commitment to improving the state of government schooling in the province, the minister said they were already on their way to reducing the difference between private and state-run educational institutions.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 29^th, 2014.