PILDAT, UNESCO hold a Public Forum today:
‘Enforcement of Right to Free Education and Article 25-A’
PILDAT, in collaboration with UNESCO, is organizing a one day Public Forum on the ‘Enforcement of Right to Free Education and Article 25-A of the Constitution of Pakistan’ today (Wednesday) at 01:30 pm in Marriott Hotel, here.
The Public Forum is being organized in the backdrop of the passage of the 18th Constitutional Amendment, abolition of the concurrent list and insertion of Article 25-A in the Constitution of Pakistan that guarantees the right to free and compulsory education to all children of age 5 to 16 years in Pakistan. This free and compulsory education is to be provided by the State, which by definition includes both Federal and Provincial governments.
After declaring education a provincial subject, will it be the exclusive responsibility of the Provinces to ensure that Article 25-A is implemented in letter and spirit, or the Federal Government will also be responsible to fully or partially support the provision of this Constitutional Right to all children in the country?
This Article (25-A) also necessitates further legislation (by the Provincial Assemblies) to facilitate the enforcement of free and compulsory education.
Realizing the fact that the implementation of Article 25-A will be a key challenge in the future as there are millions of out-of-school children, the capacity of the Provinces and a possible supportive role of the Federal Government also need to be discussed with all possible stake holders. This and some other associated questions will be discussed in the Public Forum.
Sardar Aseff Ahmed Ali, MNA, Former Federal Minister for Education, Senator S. M. Zafar, Former Chairperson Senate Standing Committee on Education and Ch. Abid Sher Ali, MNA, Former Chairperson National Assembly Standing Committee on Education, Provincial Ministers of Education from all provinces, Chairpersons Standing Committees on Education from all provinces and all Provincial Secretaries of Education are invited for the Public Forum. A select gathering of educationists, education analysts and experts will also participate in the Public Forum.