Education dept admits its ‘inefficiency’ before SHC

The Sindh education department has shown its inability to enforce particular provision of ‘Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act 2013’ which mandates the private schools to provide free education to at least 10 per cent students of their total strength and bounds government to monitor inflated fees charged by the schools.

The provincial authorities had informed the Sindh High Court’s division bench that they could not implement provision of the Act on account of pendency of petitions of management of the private schools through which the government’s power to enforce free education in private schools and check fees charged by them was questioned.

In response to the court notice, the Sindh education department’s secretary submitted a report in a petition filed by the Pakistan Institute of Labour Education and Research (PILER), Aurat Foundation, and other NGOs against the provincial government for failing to provide free and compulsory education to all children.

Petitioner’s counsel submitted that the petition had served its purpose as most of the prayers had been acceded by the government. He said the Act 2013 mandates the private schools to provide free education to at least 10 per cent of students of total strength and further bounds the government to monitor exorbitant fees charged by private schools’ management.

However, the education department showed its inability to enforce this particular provision of the Act on account of pendency of various petitions. The judges were told that this court had granted stay order against government’s power to control and monitor the fees charged by schools, whereas, another petition filed to question government’s right to enforce free education in private schools was also pending.

In order to decide these petitions swiftly, the court directed its office to club together all four petitions and fix for hearing before the same bench after issuance of notice to all concerned.

Earlier the petitioners, represented by advocate Faisal Siddiqui, submitted that education was a fundamental right recognised under Article 9 of the Constitution and this right to education was also enshrined in Article 37(b) of the Principles of Policies.

They said that after the passage of the 18th Amendment, provincial governments are bound to ensure provision of free education to all children between the ages of five to 16 years but the government had failed to do so. The counsel argued that education is a fundamental right which the government could not refuse to anyone.

He said failure of the education department to provide free and compulsory education to all children was unconstitutional, adding the government was also under a constitutional obligation to check and monitor exorbitant fees charged by private schools.