Punjab Assembly on Monday passed The Punjab Free and Compulsory Education Bill 2014, giving right to free and compulsory education to all children of five to sixteen years age in the province.
Punjab Finance, Excise and Taxation and Law Minister Mujtaba Shujaur Rehman tabled the bill before the House, which was passed by the government legislators while the opposition members, only a handful of them belonging to PML-Q and Jamaat-i-Islami, withdrew their proposed amendments to the bill.
It may be noted that the new act has replaced The Punjab Compulsory Primary Education Act 1994 (IX 1994) and The Punjab Free and Compulsory Education Ordinance 2014 (V of 2014).
Under the new legislation, every child has a right to free and compulsory education from class one to 10, non-formal education, vocational education or a combination of all considering the needs, capability and age so as to ensure completion of education. It states that a child or parent shall not be liable to pay any fee or charges or expenses for completing education in a school owned or controlled by the government or local authority.
The act also binds parents to get their children admitted to schools and help them attend, except in the case of a reasonable cause, until the said children would complete education. If a parent failed to admit and keep the child in a school, he/she would not be entitled to any subsidy or poverty-targeted support of the provincial as well as federal government, the new law says.
The act has also made it obligatory for private schools, which are not receiving any kind of aid from the provincial or federal governments or a local authority, to admit 10 percent students of the strength of each of class one to 10, including disadvantaged children of the neighbourhood or other children determined by the government, and provide them free and compulsory education.
Meanwhile, the House also passed The Punjab Local Government (Second Amendment) Bill 2014 and The Punjab Strategic Co-ordination Bill 2014, which was tabled by the Minister. On both accounts, the opposition benches suggested more deliberation on the bill since it need improvements, but the treasury benches rejected their suggestion by voting against their motion.
While referring to The Punjab Local Government (Second Amendment) Bill 2014, the Law Minister said as per the directions of the superior courts necessary amendments are made to the bill that will empower the Election Commission of Pakistan to carry out the delimitation of constituencies of the local government.
Meanwhile, the House also passed a resolution, strongly condemning the anti-democracy conspiracies in the name of protests and expressed resolve to use all energies to counter such conspiracies.
The resolution stated that the House considered the activities of certain anti-democracy elements as against national interests, security and solidarity. It also stated that the House feels continuation of democracy guarantees national development and security.
Through the resolution, the House expressed confidence in elected Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, and firmly believed that their leadership had put the country back on the road to development and prosperity.
Earlier, Speaker Rana Iqbal opened the house for question-answer session on services and general administration department. The House also took up call attention notices and adjournment motions. Later, the Speaker prorogued the House.
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