The Lahore High Court (LHC) said to the government of Punjab that they need to make clear rules based on the Punjab Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2014. This is to make sure that all private schools follow the law.
Justice Raheel Kamran Sheikh was worried because there are still no clear rules, even ten years after the law was made. He noticed that private schools, which were supposed to help make sure all children have the right to education, have been getting advantages because the government hasn’t taken action.
At the least, it indicates the government not paying enough attention, and at the most, it might be a situation where special interests have too much control, which needs to be investigated,” the judge said.
He said these things in a decision about a private school’s request to get a registration certificate in Sahiwal.World agreement exists that every kid has the right to free public education, as Justice Raheel Kamran Sheikh has mentioned.
The judge at Lahore High Court pointed out that the government has to make sure that every child from 5 to 16 years old gets to go to school for free. This is written in Article 25-A of the Constitution.
Justice Sheikh said that even though the Punjab Assembly made a law for free education in 2014, the court is having a hard time understanding why kids who need help the most are not getting their right to go to school. This is because the government is taking too long to make and tell everyone the rules they need to follow.
The Beaconhouse School System in Okara went to the highest court in the province because they were not given permission to have a certificate for their school or to be part of the Board of Intermediate & Secondary Education (BISE) Sahiwal. They also disagreed with the decision to not let their students take exams with the board.
The person who was helping the school explained that the District Registration Authority (DRA) punished them even though there were no clear rules under Section 13(b) of the Punjab Free & Compulsory Education Act, 2014. This law tells private schools what they have to do for free education.
The person in charge of DRA said that even though the government didn’t make clear rules for following Section 13(b) of the Act, big schools in Okara district decided on their own to do what the law says.
He said that if the person asking for help gives the information they need in the right way, the DRA will quickly say the school can keep its registration. Justice Sheikh said yes to the request and changed the decisions the DRA and the commissioner made.
He told them to make sure the petitioner’s school gets registered if they follow all the rules, except the ones mentioned in Section 13(b) of the law.
Also, the Sahiwal education board was told to make sure that the students from the petitioner’s school are correctly signed up for their secondary exams.
The judge said that the government of Punjab has to do its job by making clear rules. These rules should say how to help kids who need it the most and how to keep track of all the kids according to the law. The judge asked them to give a report showing they did these things in one month.
