The petition was filed by Advocate Faisal Siddiqi on behalf of the Pakistan Institute of Labour Education and Research, the Aurat Publication and Information Service Foundation, the Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum, the South Asia Partnership Pakistan, the Institute of Social Movements Pakistan, the Bonded Labour Liberation Front, the National Trade Union Federation and the Bright Educational Society.
The petition cited the Sindh government as respondent, through the education secretary.
Citing the constitution, the petitioners urged the SHC to declare that the respondent [the Sindh government] is under a constitutional obligation under the 18th Amendment, which ostensibly binds the state under Article 25A, ‘Right to Education’, for providing free and compulsory education to all children from age five to 16.
The petitioners - maintaining that under the 18th Amendment education have now become a right and no longer an arbitrary entitlement - appealed to the high court to direct the respondent to ensure the implementation of this constitutional guarantee as the Respondent has enacted no legislation and taken no executive action to implement the fundamental right constitutional obligation of Article 25-A, of the constitution.
The petitioners also sought direction for the formation of a commission, comprising well-reputed members of the civil society and government officials, to monitor the implementation of the concerned constitutional obligation of the respondent; to publish a detailed programme of measures to be taken by them to implement the Article 25A and direct the respondent to check and monitor the charging of exorbitant fees by private schools from children in the province.
Terming the failure of the government to provide free and compulsory education to all children as unconstitutional and a fundamental failure of the respondent, the petitioners declared that Article 25-a imposes a constitutional obligation on the Respondent to take legislative, financial and administrative measures, to ensure no child remains denied of the this fundamental right to education.
Quoting the UNESCO Institute of Statistics report in EdStats, 2011, the petition referred to the Pakistan Public Expenditure on education that is only 2.7 percent of the total gross domestic product and the total dropout rate of the primary education is at least 39.8 percent.
According to the report, the number of out-of-school male children at the primary level in Pakistan is 3,108,413 while the number of female out-of-school children at the primary level is 4,191,384. The International Development Association established by the World Bank has observed, in relation to Sindh, that an estimated 11 million children, from ages five to 14, were still out of school in 2007.
“Only 53 percent of individuals, ages 17 to 21, have completed secondary schooling. Assessment data shows that average learning levels in key subjects such as mathematics and language are significantly below official curriculum standards. These shortfalls are greater for girls, rural children, and, in particular, poor children,” it added.
The petition also quoted the Pakistan Living Standard Measurement Survey, 2007-2008, according to which the literacy rate among the children aged above 10 for Pakistan is 56 percent, 56 percent in Sindh and 44 percent in rural Sindh.
According to the aforementioned survey, the primary enrolment in private school is 35 percent in Pakistan, while in Sindh it is 27 percent and in rural Sindh five percent.
Linking the right to education with the right to life, “as the right to life includes a right to a decent education,” the petition also mentioned the Principles of policies for governance of Pakistan as enshrined under Article 37(b), of the Constitution, 1973, that outlines removing “illiteracy and provide free and compulsory secondary education within a minimum possible period”, as duties of the state.
While pointing to the abysmal and continuing declining rate of literacy in the country, the petition called for immediate action by provincial government to ensure that no child is denied access to education.
