Members of the Punjab Assembly on Friday demanded that Punjab free and compulsory education Act 2014 should be implemented in letter and spirit. The act has yet to be notified under section A Sub section -III.
They expressed these views during a work shop on compulsory education organized by Awaz Centre for Development Services. Workshop was addressed by Parliamentary Secretary Ahmed Khan Bachhar, MPAs Rana Shahbaz, Khadeeja Umar, Bushra Anjum and Uzma Kardar. They also said that it is alarming that rules of business of the important law under section 24 have also not been prepared yet.
Talking to the legislatures Chief Executive of Awaz Centre for Development Services said, Education is a fundamental human right and every child is entitled after right to life and food. The Constitution of Islamic Republic of Pakistan, 1973 under its article 37-B lays down that "State shall be responsible for eradication of illiteracy and provision of free and compulsory education up to secondary level, within minimum possible time". Further the Constitution also says under its article 25A "The State shall provide free and compulsory education to all children of the age of five to sixteen years in such manner as may be determined by law."
According to the latest Pakistan Education Statistics 2015-2016 published by National Education Management Information System, Academy of Educational Planning & Management, Ministry of Federal Education & Professional Training Islamabad, Government of Pakistan only 18.751million children are enrolled in primary schools (class1-5) both in public and private sector of which 45% i.e. 8.280 million are girls. 6.445 million Children are enrolled in middle schools (class 6-8) out of which only 2.8 million are girls. Finally, 3.437 million children are enrolled in high schools (class9-10) of which only 1.475 million are girls. This shows high level of deprivation of our girls in terms of secondary education. The reasons are too many ranging from poverty, poor infrastructure of schools, insecurity, extremism, cultural barriers due to menstruation and early age marriages. Indeed, among the 22.8 million out of school children in Pakistan, more than half are girls; gender disparity prevails across the nation.
In Balochistan 70% of girls are out of school, 74% of girls are out of school in Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), 61% in Sindh, 53% in Gilgit Baltistan, 52% in the Azad Jammu & Kashmir, 50% in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and 40% in the Punjab. These figures project Punjab better than other provinces however the progress seems. Looking at the above mentioned disappointing situation of girls' education, Awaz CDS-Pakistan, under its Umang (hope) program for girls right to quality secondary education in Punjab, decided to undertake a comprehensive study on the governance, accountability and financing frameworks adopted by the government during the last five years (2013-2018) in the Province of Punjab particularly in the districts of southern part of Punjab.
The study is first of its kind and it reveals many challenges like poor enrolment, missing facilities in girls' schools, less number of high and higher secondary schools for girls, poor budgetary allocations, under spending in comparison to the districts in northern part of Punjab.
The study also reveals that number of high schools for girls in southern Punjab is half than the number of high schools in northern Punjab whereas the number of Masjid Maktab Schools (MMS) is five times greater in southern Punjab than in northern districts of Punjab. The study further reveals that only 2.1% girls are being enrolled in southern Punjab out of total 7.7% eligible population of girls for enrolment. On average less than 10% of budget is being spent as development expenditures.
Zafarullah Khan shared the highlights of Punjab Free and Compulsory Act 2014 and appreciated that law makers have completed their job but the bureaucracy shall complete its job by making Rules of Business. The Punjab legislatures also stressed the need to create South Punjab Girls Education Support Fund to ensure quality secondary girls education in Punjab. Legislatures Core Group on Education comprised of Punjab legislatures was formed to do the follow up on the enactment of Punjab Free and Compulsory Education Act 2014.
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