Assembly told FDE schools ordered to stop illegal transport charges
Parliamentary secretary says the directions went out with the education minister's approval as the Speaker referred the fees complaint to a committee.
Schools and colleges operating under the Federal Directorate of Education have been directed to stop collecting transport charges wherever those charges are being levied in violation of the applicable rules, the National Assembly was told on Wednesday.
Parliamentary Secretary for Federal Education and Professional Training Rabia Naseem Farooqi told the House that the directions were issued with the approval of the federal education minister after the matter came to the ministry's notice. She was responding to a Calling Attention Notice moved by Aliya Kamran, Muhammad Usman Badini and Shahida Begum on additional fees and miscellaneous charges being collected by schools and colleges in Islamabad, according to Daily Times. UrduPoint carried the same account of the proceedings.
Asked a supplementary question, Farooqi said Article 25-A of the Constitution guarantees free and compulsory education to children aged five to 16 years. She said textbooks are supplied free of charge in all government schools of the Islamabad Capital Territory and that no tuition fee is charged, adding that a free meal programme for primary-level students is also running.
On the legal provisions covering free education, she said the relevant law refers to a neighbourhood school and defines the neighbourhood area as falling within a distance of six kilometres. Questions of free education and transport, she said, have to be considered within that framework.
Farooqi invited members to give details of any school where free textbooks were not being provided, saying the ministry would look into such complaints and act promptly. She said the government was committed to addressing lawmakers' concerns and to improving facilities for children.
Speaker National Assembly Sardar Ayaz Sadiq said the matter required further examination and referred it to the relevant committee for detailed consideration and recommendations.
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