Proposed education law seems a policy

VOL 23 NO 66 REGD NO DA 1589 | Dhaka, Saturday, January 16 2016

http://old.thefinancialexpress-bd.com/2016/01/16/131338

Proposed Education Law seems a policy M S Siddiqui In many other countries, the right to education is fundamental by constitutional guarantee. In the Constitution of Nepal, it is stated that; (i) each community shall have the right to get a basic education in their mother tongue; (ii) every citizen shall have the right to a free education from the state up to the secondary; (iii) each community residing in Nepal shall have the right to preserve and promote its language, script, culture, civility and heritage.

According to the Constitution of the Maldives, the right to education is the fundamental right of the citizens of the country. It says that; (i) everyone has the right to education without discrimination of any kind; (ii) primary and secondary education shall be provided by the state free.

In 2002, the Indian Government incorporated the right to education in its constitution as a fundamental right of the citizens through Article-21A, mentioning that the state shall provide free and compulsory education to all children between the ages of six and fourteen years in such manner as the state may, by law, determine. This constitutional obligation came into force through passing of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009, and was a historic moment for the children of India. A similar clause has been incorporated in Constitution of Bangladesh on the day of adoption by Parliament.

The constitution of Bangladesh, in Article 17 stipulates that effective measures will be taken to "establish a common system of universal and people-oriented education" and offer free and compulsory education to all boys and girls up to a stage prescribed by law. Bangladesh constitution doesn't yet recognize education as a "fundamental human right" hence the state and its government is not obligated to protect and fulfil the right to education of citizens. There is no law yet to adapt to fulfil the constitutional obligation. However, various laws and government regulations for different levels and types of education adopted and revised over time provide a legal framework for the

education system.

A compulsory primary education (CPE) act was enacted in 1990 in order to implement the constitutional provision for free, universal and compulsory education. The act empowered the government to undertake legal and administrative measures to implement the Law. It is a remarkable legislation, which makes five years primary education free and compulsory for all children in Bangladesh in all government schools and declared education for girls in rural areas free up to grade eight. It was also extended to the Female Stipend program, the Food for Education (FFE) program. But the private schools and kindergartens are not under jurisdiction of the law and not applicable for all children. This law is also not sufficient as desired by the framers of the constitution.

However, we got an excellent education policy in 2010 which also articulates how the government values education, the ideological position it takes, and of course interprets the course of action and guiding principles for achieving the goal of education policy. A policy is not enough to meet the constitutional obligation.

Finally government drafted the Education Act. It has been suggested in the draft of law that compulsory primary education will be up to Class VIII from Class I and Bangla, English, mathematics, religious instruction, moral education, Bangladesh studies, information technology, science and introduction to the environment will be made compulsory in general schools, madrasahs and kindergartens.

Amongst the many dimensions of the Draft Education Act, the efforts to unify the different streams of education into one course can be considered as the core provision.

Therefore, the Draft law also projected the unification through adding up analogous or equivalent subjects for all educational streams instead of developing a common standard for the students of all educational streams. It is non-discriminatory, inclusive and non-communal in nature. Rather it has also articulated some practical and essential measures to achieve the goal of education policy 2010.

The Article 5 (1) of the draft law mentions that primary education will be recognized as child's right. However, terming primary education as child's right doesn't actually pledge that state will be accountable for the fulfilment of education rights of all children. The proposed education law 2013 is not satisfactorily inclined to protect the right to education of citizens. Therefore, the law needs to clearly define the right to free and compulsory education where there will be no charges, direct or indirect, for pre-primary and primary education and it will recognize education as fundamental human right to protect the education rights of all.

The draft law 2013 needs to spell out one dedicated article about child's right to adequate school infrastructure where there will be an appropriate number of

classrooms, accessible to all, with adequate and separate sanitation facilities for girls and boys. It has no legal provision for the measures to be taken to make children, particularly girls, safe in educational institutions.

At present citizens barely have access to data/information on school performance, budget and expenditures. Therefore, in line with the Right to Information Act, the draft education law should define from which sources citizens will get educational information, statistics and data. The draft education law needs to explain the scope for citizens' participation in local education and should mention the mechanisms how schools as social institutions will be accountable to people. The draft law must also elaborate the roles and responsibilities of local government in education because of the fact that historically one of the fatal mistakes of our education system is lack of involvement of local government.

The definition of education and literacy must be reorganized according to the current international standards as propounded by International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) and The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The understanding of the Right to Education must be redefined. The problems ensuing from diverse educational streams must be addressed not only at the primary level but also at the secondary and tertiary levels.

Traditionally, citizens have very limited or no voice and participation in the assessment process of local schools. Consequently, the accountability of teachers, head teachers and School Management Committees is absent. The management of the school should be free from influence of law makers and government officials and given to authority of local government and knowledgeable local citizens with clearly defined authority and responsibility.

The proposed education law 2013 doesn't fairly uphold the value of rule of law and democracy as it doesn't allow the citizens to take any legal step if the law is not obeyed and allows only the government parties to do so. In case of violation of education right, citizens are not allowed to take legal step against the education service providers e.g. the school authority and education administration. Therefore, the draft education law 2013 requires to articulate specific clauses to particularly support the parents of those children who suffer discrimination in receiving quality public education.

Education acts of most other countries have categorically articulated the duties, responsibilities and obligations of different stakeholders. The proposed education law 2013 doesn't clearly define the duties, responsibilities and obligations of different parties like the state and government, local government, school authorities, parents, learners, teachers and communities. The draft education law needs to clearly define the duties, responsibilities and obligations of different parties to promote and protect people's right to education.

The existing Education Policy has many good promises but its implementation is not mandatory for the government and its violation is not a punishable offence. The draft law seems a copy of existing Education Policy. The proposed law must have penal provisions for violation of the law so that it doesn't become a policy or wish list of government. It has remained pending since 2013 and steps must be taken to revise it as per recommendation of all stakeholders and pass through Parliament as soon as possible to fulfill constitutional obligation.

The writer is a Legal Economist. E-mail: shah@banglachemical.com