SC orders continuation of community schools project

The Supreme Court on Friday said the government’s proposed decision of winding up the Basic Education Community Schools (BECS) project was unlawful and in violation of various constitutional provisions.
A three-member SC bench comprising Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, Justice Khilji Arif Hussain and Justice Tariq Parvez announced the verdict earlier reserved after hearing a set of identical pleas against the proposed closure of the BECS project.
The petitioners had sought an SC order against the proposed closure of a total of 15,101 BECS schools having 561,000 enrolled students across the country.
The verdict authored by the chief justice allowed the petitions and the National Commission for Human Development (NCHD) to carry out the project to perform functions of providing the basic facility of education to the citizens.
The project, running all over the country with 15,101 BECS and 561,000 students, was launched under the National Education Foundation project. After the passage of the 18th amendment, the federal government initially handed over the project to the provinces, but decided to close it down after the provinces refused to own it.
During the hearing of the pleas, Attorney General Maulvi Anwarul Haq had informed the court that a final decision had not yet been taken about the future of these schools imparting informal education.
Appearing on notice, Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) Chairman Salman Siddique had told the court that from 1984 to 1994, a total of Rs 66 billion had been collected under Iqra Education Surcharge.
Kamal Azfar, counsel for the NCHD had stated that the government could not abdicate its constitutional responsibility under Article 25A to discontinue formal or informal education.
He had stated that over 90 percent students enrolled under the project were female, adding that there also were volunteers who had been teaching in these schools with a monthly stipend of Rs 2,500.
The Punjab government had apprised the court that under the 18th Amendment, the project was handed over to provinces and under Article 25A, imparting education was state responsibility.