Provincial assemblies need to follow the National Assemblies lead
The state of education is always a cause for much negativity so the few times one gets positive news it is hard not to take notice. With a number of instances of teachers administering corporal punishment to students coming into the public limelight over the last few years, the passing of the Prohibition of Corporal Punishment Bill 2013 by the National Assembly (NA) is a positive step.
The bill has declared any form of corporal punishment of children in academic institutions illegal. Individuals found to be involved in the acts would be sentenced to one year in prison, Rs 50,000 fine or both. As a final act of goodbye from the NA, the bill shall be much appreciated. But it must be recognised at the same time that the NA bill has strict geographical limits: with education now a provincial subject, the jurisdiction of the bill applies only to the federal capital territory and to those educational institutes that follow its given syllabus.
The hope, of course, is that just as the NA was the first to pass a Free and Compulsory Education Act in 2012 in line with the implementation of the new Article 25A, the right to free education, this shall be an example for provincial governments to follow. The Sindh Assembly and only yesterday, the Balochistan Assembly, followed up with legislation on the enforcement of the right to education. For now, it appears that one would have to wait until the new provincial assemblies to be formed before effective legislation on corporal punishment in schools comes about that covers the bulk of the education apparatus.
The public education system of the country itself needs urgent action to improve it. The absence of basic amenities in public schools has been pointed out numerous times, and one media group has even hired a pop icon to showcase the dismal state of public schooling across the country. Each province: Punjab, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan is facing its own set of problems, with the situation having gotten so bad that the Supreme Court has stepped in and ordered the lower judiciary to prepare reports on the state of schools.
Why such a report was not ordered by an executive and assemblies which lasted five years shall remain an open question once again. That said, the passing of laws is not enough – unless there is a commitment to implementation. The Punjab government has long been running a campaign titled ‘Love, not beating’, but still hosts one of the highest rates of administering corporal punishment in the country. Nonetheless, the law is a positive step, and it is hoped that the new provincial assemblies shall adopt similar bills on priority post elections.
bill should be passed and also implement in schools . scout cadet college batarasi is one of the schools where students are facing such punishments which are inhuman and shows the ill mental state of army staff .they punish them not for the mistake they do but also harrese them for making other students punishment without any real grounds
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