The lower house of the Pakistani parliament has adopted a bill that guarantees universal free education to all children between the ages of 5 and 16.
The bill -- called the Right to Free and Compulsory Education Bill -- has already been adopted by the Senate, the upper house of the Pakistani parliament.
Minister for Religious Affairs Syed Khurshid Shah told the National Assembly that providing free and compulsory education to children is the basic priority of the government.
According to UN figures, Pakistan has the second-worst global rate of children out of classrooms, with nearly 5.1 million children out of school.
Girls constitute a majority of those out of school.
The bill -- called the Right to Free and Compulsory Education Bill -- has already been adopted by the Senate, the upper house of the Pakistani parliament.
Minister for Religious Affairs Syed Khurshid Shah told the National Assembly that providing free and compulsory education to children is the basic priority of the government.
According to UN figures, Pakistan has the second-worst global rate of children out of classrooms, with nearly 5.1 million children out of school.
Girls constitute a majority of those out of school.
