ACT NO. XXIV OF 2012
RIGHT TO FREE AND COMPULSORY
EDUCATION ACT, 2012
EDUCATION ACT, 2012
An Act to provide for free and compulsory
education to all children of the age of five to sixteen years
[Gazette of Pakistan, Extraordinary, Part-I, 24th December, 2012]
No.
F. 23(43)/2012-Legis.—The
following Act of Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament) received the assent of the
President on the 19th December. 2012 and is hereby published for general
information:-
WHEREAS it is expedient to provide free and
compulsory education to all children of the age of five to sixteen years in
schools established by the Federal Government and Local Government in Islamabad Capital Territory;
It is hereby enacted as follows:-
1. Short title, extent and commencement.—(1) This Act may be called the Right to Free
and Compulsory Education Act, 2012.
(2) It
shall extend to the Islamabad
Capital Territory.
(3) It
shall come into force on such date and in such areas, as the Federal Government
may, by notification in the Official gazette, appoint.
2. Definitions.—In this Act, unless there is anything repugnant
in the subject or context,—
(a) "Appropriate
Government" means,—
(i) in relation to a school established, owned
or controlled by the Federal Government, the Federal Government; and
(ii) in relation to a school established, owned
or controlled by the Local Government, the Local Government;
(b) "capitation
fee" means any donation, contribution or payment, by whatever name, other
than the fee notified by the school or the appropriate Government;
(c) "child"
means a child including a child with special education needs, male or female,
of the age of five to sixteen years of age;
(d) "disadvantaged
child" means a child who belongs to a socially and economically
disadvantaged class, or group or belongs to such parent whose annual income is
lower than the minimum limit specified by the appropriate Government, by the
notification in the Official gazette;
(e) "education"
means the prescribed education for a child by the academic authority, notified
by the Government;
(f) "Education
Advisory Council" means the Education Advisory Council established under
this Act;
(g) "free
education" means education free of any education related costs including
expenditure on stationery, school bags, and transport.
(h) "notification"
means a notification published in the Official gazette;
(i) "parent"
includes a person having the care and custody of a child and includes a natural
guardian or legal guardian so appointed or declared by a Court.
(j) "prescribed"
means prescribed by rules made under this Act;
(k) "School"
means any registered school imparting prescribed education and includes a,—
(i) A school established, owned or controlled
by the appropriate Government;
(ii) A school receiving aid or grants from the
appropriate Government to meet the whole or part of its expenses; and
(iii) A school not receiving any kind of aid or
grants from the appropriate Government to meet its expenses.;
(l) “screening
procedure” means the method of selection for admission of a child, in
preference over another, other than a random method; and
(m) "special
education" means educational programmes and practices designed for
students as handicapped or gifted students, whose mental ability, physical
ability, emotional functioning, etc. require special teaching approaches,
equipment, or care within or outside a regular classroom.
3. Right of child to free education.—(1) Every child, regardless of sex,
nationality or race, shall have a fundamental right to free and compulsory
education in a neighbourhood school.
(2) No
child shall be liable to pay any kind of fee, charges, expenses, etc., which
may prevent him from pursuing and completing the education.
(3) It
is the obligation of the appropriate Government to,—
(a) provide
free education to every child;
(b) ensure
admission of children of migrant families;
(c) ensure
compulsory admission, attendance and completion of education;
(d) ensure
safely of travel of the child and the teacher to and from school;
(e) ensure
availability of a neighbourhood school;
(f) ensure
that the disadvantaged child is not discriminated against and prevented from,
on any grounds whatsoever, pursuing and completing education:
(g) provide
infrastructure including school building, playgrounds, laboratories, teaching
learning material and reaching staff;
(h) monitor
functioning of schools within its jurisdiction;
(i) decide
the academic calendar;
(j) provide
all training facilities for teachers and students;
(k) ensure
good quality education conforming to the prescribed standards and norms;
(l) ensure
timely prescribing of curriculum and courses of study for education; and
(m) provide
proper training facility for teachers.
4. Special provisions for education.—Where a child has not been admitted in any
school or though admitted, could not complete his education, then he shall be
admitted in an appropriate class in a formal or non-formal school:
Provided that he shall, in order to be at par
with others, have a right to receive special training, in such a manner, and
within one academic year.
5. Right of transfer to other school.—(1) Where in a school, there is no provision
for completion of the prescribed education, a child shall have a right to seek
transfer to any other school for completing his education.
(2) Where
a child is required to move from one school to another, for any reason
whatsoever, such child shall have a right to seek transfer to any other school for
completing his education.
(3) for
seeking admission in such other school, the in-charge of the school where such
child was last admitted, shall immediately issue the transfer certificate:
Provided that delay in producing the transfer
certificate shall not be a ground for cither delaying or denying admission in
such other school:
Provided further that the in-charge of the
school delaying issuance of transfer certificate or delaying or denying
admission shall be liable for disciplinary action under the service rules.
6. Duty of appropriate Government to
establish school.—(1) The appropriate
Government shall, for carrying out the provisions of this Act, establish, within
such limits of neighbourhood as may be prescribed, a school, within a period of
three years from the commencement of this Act.
(2) The
appropriate Government shall encourage enterprises, institutions and other
segments of society, by offering incentives, to establish schools to facilitate
free and compulsory education.
(3) The
appropriate Government shall establish a system of grants-in-aid to support the
school attendance of poor students.
7. Sharing of financial and other
responsibilities.—(1) The
Federal Government and the Local Government, if any, shall have concurrent
responsibility for providing funds for carrying out the provisions of this Act.
(2) The
Federal Government may provide to the Local Government as grants-in-aid such
percentage of expenditure for education as it may determine, from time to time,
in consultation with the Local Government.
(3) The
Federal Government shall establish or specify, through notification, an
academic authority to lay down the curriculum and evaluation procedures,
including approval of syllabi and textbooks for students, to develop and
enforce standards for training of teachers, and to provide technical support
and resources for planning and capacity building of teachers and education
managers.
8. Duty of parents.—(1) The parent of a child shall, except in
the case of a reasonable excuse, cause a child to attend a school in the
neighbourhood until the said child has completed the prescribed education.
(2) Reasonable excuse for the purpose of
sub-section (1) shall include any of the following cases namely;—
(a) where the School
management Committee is satisfied that the child is incapable of attending
school by reason of any infirmity or mental incapacity or it is not desirable
that the child should be compelled to carry on his study further; or
(b) where
there is no School in the neighbourhood.
9. Appropriate Government to provide
pre-school education.—The
appropriate Government may make necessary arrangements for providing free
pre-school education and early childhood care for the children above the age of
three years until they join the school for education.
10. Responsibility of private school for free
education.—For the purposes
of this Act, a school,—
(a) specified in sub-clauses
(i) and (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; and
(b) specified in sub-clause
(iii) of clause (k) of Section 2, shall admit in class I and then in every
class, to the extent of at ten percent of the strength of that class,
disadvantaged children in the neighbourhood and provide free education till the
educational level of that school:
Provided that where a school specified in clause (b), imparts
preschool education, the provisions of clauses (a) and (b) shall apply for
admission to such pre-school education.
11. No capitation fee and screening procedure.—(1) No school or person shall, while
admitting a child, collect any capitation fee and subject the child or his
parents or parent to any screening procedure.
(2) Any school or person, if in contravention of
the provisions of sub-section (1),—
(a) receives capitation fee,
shall be punishable with fine which may extend to twenty times the capitation
fee charged for the first contravention and fifty thousand rupees for each
subsequent contravention; and
(b) subjects a child or parent
to screening procedure, shall be punishable with fine which may extend to fifty
thousand rupees for the first contravention and one hundred thousand rupees for
each subsequent contravention.
12. Proof of age for admission.—For the purposes of admission to a school,
the age of a child shall be determined on the basis of the Form-B of NADRA and
birth certificate issued as prescribed:
Provided that no child shall be denied
admission in a school for lack of proof of age.
13. No denial of admission and expulsion.—(1) A child shall be admitted in a school at
the commencement of every academic year:
Provided that no child shall be denied
admission if such admission is sought subsequent to termination of admission
period of the academic year:
Provided that any child subsequently admitted
shall complete his studies in such manner as may be prescribed.
(2) No
child admitted in a school shall be expelled from school till the completion of
the prescribed education.
(3) No
child shall be subjected to corporal punishment or mental harassment.
(4) Whoever
contravenes the provisions of this section, shall be liable to disciplinary action
under the service rules.
14. Registration of Schools.—(1) No school, other than a school
established, owned or controlled by the appropriate Government, after the
commencement of this Act, be established or function, without obtaining a
certificate of registration from the prescribed authority.
(2) The
prescribed authority shall issue the certificate of registration in such form,
within such period, in such manner, and subject to such conditions, as may be
prescribed:
Provided that no such registration shall be
granted to a school unless it fulfils the prescribed norms and standards.
(3) The
prescribed authority shall, on the contravention of the conditions of
registration, by an order in writing, withdraw registration:
Provided that registration shall not be so
withdrawn without giving a reasonable opportunity of being heard to such
school:
Provided further that such order shall
contain a direction as to which of the neighbourhood school, the children
studying in the so de-registered school, shall be shitted.
(4) The
appropriate Government or an authorized officer may take such steps as it or he
may deem necessary to close a unregistered or de-registered educational
institution.
(5) Any
person who establishes or runs a school without obtaining certificate of
registration, or continues to run a school after withdrawal of registration,
shall be liable to fine which may extend to two hundred thousand rupees and in
case of continuing contraventions, to a fine of twenty five thousand rupees for
each day during which such contravention continues.
15. Norms and standards of school.—(1) No school shall be established or
registered or continue to Function, unless it fulfils the prescribed norms and
standards.
(2) Where
a school established before the commencement of this Act does not conform to the
prescribed norms and standards, it shall take steps to conform to prescribed
norms and standards at its own expense, within a period of two years.
(3) Where
a school fails to conform to the prescribed norms and standards within two
years, the prescribed authority shall withdraw registration granted to such
school.
(4) Any
person who continues to run a school after the registration is withdrawn, shall
be liable to fine which may extend to two hundred housand rupees and in case of
continuing contraventions, to a fine of twenty five thousand rupees for each
day during which such contravention continues.
16. School Management Committee.—(1) Every school, other than a school
specified in sub-clause (iii) of clause (k) of Section 2, shall constitute a
School Management Committee consisting of the representatives of the
appropriate Government, teachers, parents of children admitted in such school:
Provided that at-least two-thirds of members
of such Committee shall be parents:
Provided further that one-third of members of
such Committee shall be women.
(2) The School Management Committee shall perform
the following functions, namely:-
(a) monitor
the general working of the school;
(b) ensure that the prescribed
norms and standards are observed;
(c) ensure that the education
policy of the appropriate Government is implemented;
(d) prepare
and recommend the annual development plan;
(e) monitor the utilization of
the aids and grants received from the appropriate Government or any other
source; and
(f) perform such other
functions as may be prescribed or entrusted to it by the appropriate Government.
(3) The
School Management Committee shall also ensure that every child required to
attend a school under this Act attends a school and for this purpose, it shall take
all steps as maybe considered necessary or as may be prescribed by Government.
(4) Where
a School Management Committee is satisfied that a parent who is required under
this Act to cause a child to attend a school has failed to do so, the School
Management Committee, after giving the parent an opportunity of being heard and
after such enquiries as it considers necessary, may puss an order directing the
parent to cause such child to attend a school on and from a date which shall be
specified in the order.
(5) Any
parent who fails to comply with an order issued under sub-section (4) of this
section, shall on conviction be punishable with fine which may extend to five
thousand rupees and with further fine which may extend to five hundred rupees for
every day after the conviction for which the failure continues or with
imprisonment which may extend to three month or with both.
(6) Any
employer of a child, who is required under this Act to attend a School, after
receiving due warning from the School Management Committee, continues to employ
a child, whether on remuneration or otherwise, shall on conviction, be
punishable with fine which may extend to fifty thousand rupees or with
imprisonment which may extend to six month or with both and with a further fine
which may extend to one thousand rupees for every day after the conviction for
which the non-attendance at a school continues.
17. Terms and conditions of service of teachers.—(1) No person shall be appointed as a teacher
unless he possesses the prescribed qualifications.
(2) Where
the persons having the prescribed qualifications are not available, the
appropriate Government may, by notification, relax the prescribed
qualifications, for a period not exceeding two years:
Provided that a teacher, who at the
commencement of this Act does not possess the prescribed qualifications, shall
acquire such qualifications within a period of two years.
18.
Duties of teachers.—(1) A teacher shall perform the following
duties, namely:—
(a) maintain regularity and
punctuality in attending the school;
(b) complete the curriculum
and syllabi within the specified time;
(c) assess the learning
abilities of every child and supplement additional instructions, if any, as
required;
(d) all
round development of the child;
(e) building
up child's knowledge, potentiality and talent;
(f) adopt learning through
activities, discovery and exploration in a child friendly and child-centered
manner;
(g) make the child free of
fear, trauma and anxiety and help the child to express 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.
(2) A
teacher committing default in performance of duties specified in sub-section (1),
shall be liable to disciplinary action under the applicable service laws.
19.
Other teachers related matters.—(1) The appropriate Government shall ensure
that the prescribed pupil-teacher ratio, is maintained in each school within
one year from the date of commencement of this Act.
(2) The
appointing Government shall ensure that vacancies of teachers in a school shall
not exceed ten per cent of the total sanctioned strength and such vacancy shall
be filled within four months.
(3) No
teacher shall be deployed for any non-educational purposes other than the
population census, disaster relief duties or duties relating to elections.
(4) Every
child completing his education shall be awarded a proper certificate, in such
form and in such manner, as may be prescribed.
(5) The
grievances, if any, of a teacher shall immediately be redressed in such manner
as may be prescribed.
20. Monitoring of child's right to education.—(1) The appropriate Government, shall, in
addition to the functions assigned to them under this Act, also perform the
following functions, namely:-
(a) take
all necessary measures for the effective implementation of the child rights
under this Act; and
(b) inquire
into complaints relating to child's right and take appropriate action.
(2) Any
person having any grievance relating to the rights of a child under this Act
may make a written complaint to the appropriate Government.
(3) After
receiving the complaint under sub-section (2), the appropriate Government shall
decide the matter within the period of one month after affording a reasonable
opportunity of being heart to the parties concerned.
21. Medical and dental inspection of children.—(1) Every school shall, so far as it is
reasonable and practicable so to do, provide for the medical and dental
inspection, at appropriate intervals, of the students.
(2) The
school may require the parent of a student to cause the student to undergo
medical or dental inspection in accordance with arrangements made by the school
authorities, or by a registered medical or dental practitioner, and a person
who fails without reasonable excuse to comply with the requirement shall be
guilty of an offence and shall, on conviction, be liable to a fine not
exceeding five thousand rupees.
22. Education Advisory Council.—(1) The appropriate Governments shall
constitute an Education Advisory Council consisting of such number of members,
not exceeding nine, to be appointed from amongst persons having knowledge and
practical experience in the field of the education, child rights and child
development to advise the appropriate Governments on implementation of the
provisions of this Act in an effective manner.
(2) The
Education Advisory Council shall also ensure that every child required to
attend a school under this Act attends a school and for this purpose it shall
take all steps as may be considered necessary or as may be specified by Government.
(3) The
terms and conditions of the appointment of members of the Education Advisory
Council shall be such as may be prescribed.
23. Awards.—(1) The teachers, educational administrators, educational researchers,
individuals and organizations who meet the set criteria may be awarded the
prescribed awards.
(2) The students with excellent achievements
in learning and training may be awarded the prescribed awards.
24. No Advertisement without Registration.—(1) No person shall promote an educational
institution, whether by advertisement, prospectus, brochure or otherwise,
unless the educational institution has been registered or a provisional certificate
of registration has been issued.
(2) A
person who contravenes sub-section (1) shall be guilty of an offence and shall,
on conviction, be liable to a fine not exceeding one hundred thousand rupees or
to imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year or to both.
25. Inspections and directions.—(1) The appropriate Government shall, from time
to time, inspect or cause to be inspected a registered educational institution for
the purpose of ascertaining that this Act and the rules made under this Act
have been and are being complied with.
(2) The
appropriate Government may issue such guidelines and give such directions as it
deems fit for the proper implementation of the provisions of this Act.
(3) Every
school shall provide such information as may be required by the appropriate Government.
26. Prosecution of the offences.—(1) No prosecution for offences punishable
under this Act shall be instituted except upon a complaint with the previous sanction
of the appropriate Government.
(2) All
the offences under this Act are bailable and compoundable.
(3) The
authorized officer in a ease where he deems it fit and proper so to do, may
compound any offence committed by a person which is punishable under this Act
on payment, within such time as may be specified in the order, of such sum of
money, as may be so specified, which shall not exceed fifty per centum of the amount
of the maximum fine to which the person would have been liable if he had been
convicted of the offence.
27. Protection of action taken in good faith.—No suit or other legal proceeding shall lie
against the appropriate Government, the School Management Committee or any
other person, in respect of anything which is in good faith done, in pursuance
of this Act, or any rules or order made there under.
28. Repeal.—The Islamabad Capital Territory Compulsory Primary Education Ordinance,
2002 (XIV of 2002) shall stand repealed:
Provided that such repeal shall not affect
the previous operations of the law under repeal or order passed or anything
duly done or suffered there under.
29. Powers to make rules.—(1) The appropriate Government may, by notification,
make rules, for carrying out the provisions of this Act.
(2) Without
prejudice to the generality of the foregoing powers, such rules may provide for
all or any of the following matters, namely:-
(a) the
area or limits for establishment of a neighbourhood school;
(b) the
manner of maintenance of records of children:
(c) determining
the age of child;
(d) the
extended period for admission and the manner of completing study if admitted
after the extended period;
(e) the
manner of giving special training and the time-limit thereof;
(f) the
authority, the form and manner of making application for Certificate of
Registration:
(g) the
form, the period, the manner and the conditions for issuing Certificate of
Registration;
(h) the
manner of giving opportunity of hearing under this Act;
(i) the
functions of School Management Committees;
(j) school
annual development plan;
(k) the
salary and allowances payable to, and the terms and conditions of service of
teachers;
(l) the
duties to be performed by the teachers;
(m) the
manner of redressing grievances of teachers, students or any other person;
(n) the
form and manner of awarding certificate for completion of the education; and
(o) the
allowances and other terms and conditions of appointment of members of the
relevant Education Advisory Council.
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