exposes response of the governments to the international commitments such as Education for All (EFA) goals, to be achieved by 2015, many of which have been missed by Pakistan.
The implementation of Article 25-A is a huge challenge for the federal and provincial governments due to enormity of task requiring more schools, classrooms and teachers and funs for non-development expenditures. However what saddens is the lack of political will as exposed by the response from the governments. The academic circles had urged the federal as well as provincial governments to insert timeframe for formulation of rules in the Right to Education (RTE) laws when discussions had started vis-à-vis these very legislations. However, the governments turned deaf ear to such suggestions.
Research Fellow at the Institute of Social and Policy Sciences (I-SAPS) Ahmad Ali said Punjab province already had a compulsory education law, Punjab Compulsory Primary Education Act 1994; however the law could not be implemented as no rules of business were formulated in this regard. “The legislation without rules is like a water tank with no tap to use water”, he explained.
Ahmad Ali said the implementation of the article was a big challenge. According to him his organization shared comprehensive draft laws as well as rules for implementation of same with different provincial governments including Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.
When contacted, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Education Minister Atif Khan said his government wanted to do the RTE legislation in a proper manner and not just a “make-up” kind of thing as others did.
“There are huge financial and legal implications with regard to implementation of the RTE law,” Atif said claiming draft law was sent twice to the province’s Law Department but was rejected. “Presently the draft law lies with the law department for vetting,” he said adding once cleared the government would introduce the law.
Sardar Raza Barrech, Education Advisor to Balochistan chief minister, when contacted also mentioned financial and legal implications. “Balochistan’s history is different as compared to other provinces as half of its population still lack schools,” he said. Barrech said governments should support Balochistan in this vital sector.
The News could not reach Punjab Education Minister Rana Mashhood and Secretary Schools Abdul Jabbar Shaheen despite repeated attempts on their cell phones. They did not reply to the SMSs sent to them in this regard. Sindh Education Minister Nisar Khuhro was not available for comments as his cell phone was switched off.