Updated: Sunday January 18, 2015/AlAhad
Rabi' Awwal 28, 1436/Ravivara
Pausa 28, 1936, at 01:00:40 PM
[1][1] The
(Act XXVI of 2014)
[10 November 2014]
An Act to provide for free and
compulsory education to all children of the age of five to sixteen years.
Whereas Article 25A of
the Constitution of Islamic Republic of Pakistan enjoins that the State shall
provide free and compulsory education to all children of the age of five to
sixteen years and, for the purpose, it is expedient to make necessary
provisions;
It is enacted as
follows:---
CHAPTER I
PRELIMINARY
1. Short title, extent and commencement.–(1) This Act may be cited as the Punjab Free and Compulsory
Education Act, 2014.
(2) It shall extend to whole of the
(3) It shall
come into force on such date as the Government may, by notification, determine
and the Government may, in like manner, determine different dates on which the
specified provisions of this Act shall come into force.
2. Definitions.– In this Act:---
(a) “child” means a
child from the age of five to sixteen years;
(b) “capitation
fee” means any kind of donation or contribution or payment, by
whatever name, other than the fee notified by the Government or the local
authority;
(c) “disadvantaged
child” means a child who belongs to a socially and economically disadvantaged
class, or to any other group having disadvantage owing to social, or such other
reasons or who belongs to such a parent whose annual income is less than the
limit which the Government may, by notification, specify;
(d) “education” means teaching
and training of mind and character by attendance in regular school education,
madrassa education, vocational training and special education in the class room
and school setting, or non-formal education or the education prescribed for a
child or category of children by the Government;
(e) “free
education” implies that the Government or a local authority shall not charge
any fee or expense for providing education and shall endeavour to remove
financial barriers that may prevent a child from completing ten years’
education;
(f) “Government” means
Government of the
(g) “local
authority” means a local government, an autonomous or semi-autonomous body or
authority of the Government, a public sector organization or body having
administrative control over a school or empowered by or under any law to
function as a local authority;
(h) “parent” includes a
person having the care and custody of a child or a guardian appointed by a
court;
(i) “prescribed” means prescribed by rules;
(j) “rules” means the rules made under the Act;
(k) “school” means an
educational institution imparting primary, elementary or secondary education to
the children and includes:---
(i)
a
school owned or controlled by the Government or a local authority;
(ii) a school
receiving aid or grant to meet whole or part of its expenses from the
Government, Federal Government or a local authority;
(iii) a school not
receiving any kind of aid or grant from the Government, Federal Government or a
local authority; and
(iv) a Deeni
madrassa or any school providing religious education recognized by the
Government;
(l)
“screening
procedure” means the method of selection for admission of a child at nursery
level or any other initial level, in relation to another child other than a
random method; and
(m)
“vocational
education” includes the training of skills to prepare trainees for jobs and
careers at various levels from trade to a craft.
CHAPTER II
RIGHT TO
FREE AND COMPULSORY EDUCATION
3. Right to free and compulsory
education.– (1) Every child shall have a right
to free and compulsory education from class one to ten, non-formal education,
vocational education or a combination of all or any of the two as notified by the Government
considering the needs, capability and age of the child so as to ensure
completion of education or specified education in a school in the neighborhood
or the school allocated for the child.
(2) The
Government shall prescribe academic calendar for class one to class ten and for
non-formal education, vocational education and special education.
(3) For purposes of subsection (1), a child
or parent shall not be liable to pay any kind of fee or charges or expenses for
completing the education in a school mentioned in sub-clause (i) of clause (k)
of section 2.
(4) The
Government shall, in the prescribed manner, provide or cause to be provided
suitable education to a child suffering from disability or a special child.
4. Duty
to provide education.–(1) The
Government shall:---
(a) provide free and compulsory education to
every child in the neighborhood school or the school allocated for the child;
(b) ensure good quality education conforming
to the standards and norms of quality education; and
(c) prepare an annual statement of the
children admitted and retained in the educational institutions.
(2) A local government shall:---
(a) maintain, in the prescribed manner, a
record of children up to the age of sixteen years residing within its
jurisdiction; and
(b) ensure and monitor admission, attendance
and completion of education by every child residing within its jurisdiction.
5. Special provisions for education.– If a child above five years of age
has not been admitted in any school or after admission, could not complete
education, the local government shall,
in the prescribed manner, develop a mechanism to ensure admission of the child
in a school according to age, previous class and other circumstances.
6. Transfer
to other school.– (1) Where
in a school, there is no provision for completion of the prescribed education,
a child or a parent may opt for transfer of the
child to any other school for completing his education.
(2) Where
a child is required to move from one area to another, for any reason, such
child shall continue to have a right to complete his education in such other
area.
(3) For
purposes of admission in another school, the incharge of the school where the
child was last admitted, shall immediately issue the transfer certificate or
school leaving certificate.
CHAPTER III
DUTIES OF
GOVERNMENT, LOCAL AUTHORITY AND PARENTS
7. Sharing
of financial and other responsibilities.– (1) The Government and local authority shall have concurrent
responsibility for providing funds for carrying out the purposes of this Act.
(2) The Government may approach the
Federal Government to provide as grants-in-aid such percentage of expenditure
for education as may be determined with mutual consultation.
8. Establishment
of schools.– (1) For carrying out the purposes
of this Act, a local authority shall make arrangements for the requisite number
of schools, within such area as may be prescribed.
(2) The Government shall devise a scheme
for using the schools in the evening hours for providing education to the
children and for making arrangements for providing non-formal education to the
children in other educational institutions.
(3) The Government and a local authority
may encourage enterprises, institutions and other segments of civil society, by
granting exemption or rebate in taxes and offering incentives for those who
establish, maintain or run schools for provision of free and compulsory
education to children.
(4) The Government and a local authority
shall devise a system of grants-in-aid to encourage admission of a child in a
school and to support the school attendance of a disadvantaged child.
9. Duty
of parent.– (1) A parent shall
admit or cause to be admitted the child for education in a school or, as the
case may be, in the school allocated for the child.
(2) The parent shall, except in the case of
a reasonable excuse, cause the child to attend a school in the neighborhood or
the allocated school until the said child has completed the education provided
and contemplated for him.
(3) If a parent fails to admit and keep the
child in a school, he may not be entitled to any subsidy or poverty targeted
support of the Government and the Government may recommend such a measure to
the Federal Government or any other body providing such subsidy or support.
Explanation: Reasonable excuse for
purposes of this section shall include any of the following cases:---
(a) where the school management body is
satisfied that the child is incapable of attending school by reason of sickness
or infirmity or that by reason of the child’s mental incapacity it is not
desirable that the child should be compelled to attend a school or carry on his
study further; or
(b) where the child is receiving,
otherwise than in a school, education or
instructions which in the opinion of the school management body, is
sufficient.
10. Pre-school
education.– The Government or the local
authority may establish a kindergarten school or childcare centre in a local
area or consolidate or merge such schools or centres for providing free
pre-school education and early childhood care for the children above the age of
three years until they join a school for education.
11. Management
of schools.– The Government or the local
authority shall establish a school management body of a public school
consisting of its representatives, teachers, parents of children admitted to
the school and confer on it the prescribed powers in relation to the school.
12. Taleem
Fund.–
(1) The Government may permit a school
management body to establish, in the
prescribed manner, a Taleem Fund
for the school.
(2) All
voluntary contributions from the philanthropists, alumni, students and parents
shall be credited to the Taleem Fund, maintained at a scheduled Bank.
(3) The
Fund shall be utilized for the welfare of the students of the school in the
prescribed manner.
(4) All
moneys from the Fund shall be withdrawn in the prescribed manner jointly by at
least two members of the school management body.
CHAPTER IV
RESPONSIBILITIES
OF SCHOOLS AND TEACHERS
13. Responsibility
of private school for free education.– For purposes
of this Act, a private sector school:---
(a) specified
in sub-clause (ii) of clause (k) of section 2, shall provide free education to
such proportion of children admitted therein as its annual aid or grant so
received bears to its annual recurring expenses;
(b) specified in sub-clauses (iii) and (iv) of
clause (k) of section 2, shall admit in class one and then in every class, ten
percent of the strength of that class, children, including disadvantaged
children of the neighbourhood or other children as may be determined by the
Government, and shall provide free and compulsory education to such children or, in the alternative,
provide prescribed vouchers for education of disadvantaged children in any
other school, as may be determined by the Government;
(c) shall
provide the information pertaining to the students admitted under clauses (a)
and (b) to the Government, the local authority or any other prescribed
authority; and
(d) shall not require a parent to purchase
textbooks, uniform or other material from a particular vendor or provider and
shall not charge any amount other than tuition fee, admission fee or prescribed
security in the name and style of building fund or under any other name or
style.
14. Capitation fee and screening procedure.–(1) No school or person shall, while
admitting a child in the school:---
(a)
collect
any capitation fee; or
(b) in case of
schools owned or controlled by the Government or a local authority, subject the
child or his parent to any screening procedure.
(2) Any school or person who, in contravention
of the provisions of subsection (1),---
(a)
receives capitation fee, shall be
punishable with fine which may extend to
twenty times the capitation fee charged in the first instance and fifty
thousand rupees for each subsequent instance of the contravention; or
(b) subjects a child or parent to
screening procedure, shall be punishable with fine which may extend to fifty
thousand rupees in the first instance and one hundred thousand rupees for each
subsequent instance of contravention.
15. Proof of age for admission.– (1) For purposes of admission to a school, the age of a child
shall be determined on the basis of the birth certificate or such other
document as may be prescribed but a child shall not be denied admission in a
school for lack of proof of age.
(2) If
a child is admitted in a school without producing the birth certificate, the incharge
of the school shall send, in writing, the particulars of the child to the local
authority responsible for birth registration of the child.
16. Admission,
expulsion and corporal punishment.– (1) Subject
to such exceptions as may be prescribed, a school shall admit children at the
commencement of every academic year.
(2)
Subject to the provisions of
sections 3 and 6, a school shall not transfer or expel a child admitted in the
school till the completion of the prescribed education until:---
(a) arrangement is made for transfer of the
child to any other school in the prescribed manner;
(b) the child has been assessed in two
consecutive annual examinations as being below the educational standard of the
school;
(c) a reasoned judgment has been passed by
the disciplinary committee of the school that further retention of the child in
such school shall be detrimental to the discipline of the school; or
(d) the child or parent fails to fulfill any
prescribed condition including non-payment of fee of a private school.
(3) If a child is expelled from a school
under subsection (2), the incharge of the school shall immediately inform the
local government and to such officer as the Government may authorize to receive
such communication.
(4)
The teacher or incharge of a school
shall ensure that a child studying in the school is not subjected to corporal
punishment or harassment.
(5)
A person who contravenes any
provision of this section shall be guilty of gross misconduct and shall be
liable to disciplinary action under the law or contract of service of such
person.
17. Duties
of teachers.– (1) The incharge of a school shall effectively carry out his functions and
shall enforce discipline amongst the teachers and the students.
(2) A teacher including the incharge shall:---
(a)
maintain
regularity and punctuality in attending the school, classes, curricular and
co-curricular activities;
(b) complete the
curriculum within the specified time;
(c)
assess
the learning abilities of every child and impart additional instructions, if
required;
(d) try for all
round development of the child;
(e)
build
up child’s knowledge, potential and talent;
(f)
adopt
learning through activities, discovery and exploration in a child-friendly and
child-centered manner;
(g) keep the
child free of fear, trauma and anxiety and help the child to express his views
freely;
(h) hold regular
meetings with parents and share with them the relevant information about the
child; and
(i)
perform
such other duties as may be prescribed.
(3) A teacher who fails to perform the
duties specified in subsection (1) in a satisfactory manner shall be liable to
disciplinary action under the relevant service laws or terms of service
contract.
CHAPTER V
PROTECTION OF RIGHT OF CHILDREN
18. Monitoring
of right to education.– (1) The Government shall:---
(a) take all necessary measures for the
effective implementation of this Act; and
(b) inquire into complaints relating to
right to education and take appropriate action.
(2) Any person having any grievance relating
to the rights of a child to education may make a written complaint to the
Government or to the prescribed authority.
(3) On receipt of a complaint under
subsection (2), the Government or the prescribed authority shall decide the
matter within the period of thirty days after affording a reasonable
opportunity of being heard to the parties.
(4)
Any order passed under this section
shall be final and the administration of the school shall implement such order.
CHAPTER VI
MISCELLANEOUS
19. Inspections
and directions.– (1) In addition to the routine
quality assurance of the schools and education of different levels, the
prescribed authority shall inspect or cause to be inspected a school for
purposes of ascertaining that this Act and the rules have been and are being
complied with.
(2) The Government may issue such guidelines
and give such directions to a local authority, as it deems fit, for effective
implementation of this Act.
(3) A school shall provide such information
as the Government or the prescribed authority may require.
20. Residuary penalty and liability of
corporations.– (1) Unless otherwise provided, if a
person contravenes any order made under this Act, he shall be punished with
imprisonment for a term which may extend to six months or with fine which may
extend to fifty thousand rupees or with both.
(2) If the person contravening an order made under
this Act or any penal provision of the Act is a Company or other body
corporate, every director, manager, secretary or other officer or agent thereof
shall, unless he proves that the contravention took place without his knowledge
or that he exercised all due diligence to prevent such contravention, be deemed
to be guilty of such contravention.
21. Prosecution
and compounding of the offences.–
(2) An offence under this Act shall be bailable
and compoundable.
(3) An officer so authorized by the prescribed
authority may, in the prescribed manner, compound any offence punishable under
this Act on payment, within such time as may be specified in the order, of
specified sum of money which shall not exceed fifty percent of the amount of
the maximum fine to which the person would have been liable if he had been
convicted of the offence.
22. Summary
trial.–(1) Notwithstanding anything contained in the Code of Criminal
Procedure 1898 (V of 1898) but
subject to subsection (3), the Court shall summarily try an offence punishable
under this Act on the basis of a complaint submitted by the authorized officer
of the prescribed authority and may impose punishment of imprisonment for a
term not exceeding six months or fine not exceeding fifty thousand rupees.
(2) The
Court shall conduct the summary trial of an offence under the Act in accordance
with the provisions of Chapter XXII of the Code of Criminal Procedure 1898 (V of 1898) relating to the summary
trials.
(3) If the Court is of opinion that the
nature of the offence does justify summary trial, it may conduct proceedings in
accordance with the provisions of Chapter XX of the Code of Criminal Procedure
1898 (V of 1898).
23. Protection
of action taken in good faith.– No suit or
other legal proceeding shall lie against the Government, the prescribed
authority, a local authority or any other person, in respect of anything which
is in good faith done under this Act, the rules or any order made under the Act.
24. Power
to make rules.– (1) The
Government may, by notification, make rules for carrying out the purposes of
this Act.
(2) In particular, and without prejudice
to the generality of the foregoing powers, such rules may provide for any of
the following matters:---
(a)
manner
of maintenance of records of children;
(b)
criteria
for determination of disadvantage children or payment of vouchers;
(c)
the
area or limits for establishment of a neighbourhood school;
(d)
extended
period for admission of a child and the manner of completing study by the child
if admitted after the extended period;
(e)
academic
calendar;
(f)
duties
to be performed by the teachers;
(g)
the
manner of redressing grievances of teachers, students or any other person;
(h)
the
manner of giving opportunity of hearing under this Act;
(i)
receipt of contribution, utilization and withdrawal
of money from the Taleem Fund; and
(j)
maintenance and audit of accounts.
25. Act to override other laws.– Notwithstanding anything contained in any other law, this Act
shall have overriding effect and all such other laws shall be brought in
conformity with the scheme and the objectives of this Act within a period of
five years.
26. Repeal.– The Punjab
Compulsory Primary Education Act, 1994 (IX of 1994) and the Punjab Free and Compulsory Education Ordinance 2014 (V of 2014) are hereby repealed.
[1][1]This Act was passed by the
Punjab Assembly on 27 October 2014; assented to by the Governor of the
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