Education for all: Law for compulsory education gets extension

Standing committee says they want to take all stakeholders on board.

LAHORE:

The Punjab Free and Compulsory Education Ordinance has been given another 90-day extension after the Punjab Assembly’s Standing Committee on Education decided not to introduce the bill in the assembly’s June session.

The Ordinance which was promulgated on May 13 would have lapsed on August 11 if it failed to be introduced and passed by the assembly.

The committee had earlier hinted that it could go for an extension if public deliberations on the law, acknowledging education as a basic right, was not completed.

The extension has allowed the committee to hold deliberations on the Bill until November 10. The decision was made on Tuesday after Rana Mashhood Ahmad Khan, who is the education minister and also has the portfolio of law, moved for extension of the ordinance.

Last year, Mashhood shared the government’s resolve to present the Right to Free and Compulsory Act in the assembly after the commission, constituted by the Punjab government, submitted its legislative draft to implement the provisions of Article 25-A of the Constitution.

After promulgation, the ordinance was referred to the Standing Committee on Education which has since held two deliberations on the law. Qamarul Islam Raja, chairman of the committee, told The Express Tribune that the committee had directed the Law and the Education Departments to move for the extension. “Despite deliberations there were complaints from various quarters that perhaps the legislation was being carried out in secrecy,” said Raja, “We wanted to dispel that notion.”

Raja said the extension would ensure the continuity of law while preventing it from lapsing in August.

While the committee has managed to hold deliberations with private schools and non-government organisations working in the education sector, Raja said there was still time before the law could be passed by the assembly.

Earlier in June, the committee said that the role of private schools in providing free and compulsory education and education to children with special needs were issues that needed to be addressed at length. The private education sector has raised certain reservations regarding the allocation of 10 per cent of their seats to educate underprivileged students.

The private sector was given options: to establish schools where children would be taught for free and a voucher scheme for deserving students. The committee said that private schools and organisations had sought a week to respond to the proposals.

The committee is also taking up concerns regarding definitions of entities described in the law to remove ambiguities. “We want it to be a thorough and comprehensive law. It is only right to take everyone on board,” he said.

The Bill has been under deliberation since 2010, after the inclusion of Article 25-A in the Constitution, which acknowledges free and compulsory education as a right for children in the 5 to 16 years age group.

The committee now hopes that the additional time (till November) will allow all stakeholders ample time to discuss recommendations which could improve the law. The extension of 90 days will be applicable from August 11 onwards.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 25^th, 2014.