News
Education compulsory for children between 5 and 16 years
The age of compulsory school attendance has been raised from 14 to 16 years and parents who fail to send their children to school will be guilty of an offence. These regulations will come into force within the next two months and are being made under the Education Ordinance — with a vision to create a friendly, pleasant and wholesome learning environment in the school.
Earlier regulations gazetted in 1997 made school education mandatory for children between 5 and 14 years.
To monitor school attendance and ensure that children attend school, the regulations provide for each Education Division to have a compulsory School Attendance Monitoring Committee which will work with the Zonal Director of Education and the Provincial Director of Education.
The committees will have the responsibility of collecting details relating to children within the age of compulsory education and those who do not regularly attend school. The committees are to find ways for them to be admitted to school. The committees are also required to monitor those whose attendance is irregular. They will facilitate their regular attendance.
The committees will also identify school dropouts and take steps to make them attend school again.
The committees will have the power to summon parents who fail to send their children to school or visit such parents and counsel and advise them on the essential need to send their children to school. Parents will be guilty of an offence if they fail to send children between the ages of 5-16 to school.
The regulations will come into effect within the next two months once the committees are appointed and monitoring work begins.