Government will introduce legislation to Jamaican children the right to free education

 Prime Minister Andrew Holness yesterday informed Parliament that his Government will introduce legislation to give Jamaican children the right to free education up to the secondary level.

At the same time, he announced that funding to high schools will be increased from $2.6 billion to $5.3 billion.

“We are now, therefore, looking at making the right to free education explicit in law, and I have directed the minister of education, youth and information, who is here with us, to examine the existing legislation with a view to making it illegal for any child to be denied the right to a secondary education,” Holness said in a statement to the House of Representatives.

He said that his Government felt that education should be compulsory for children up to 18 years old. However, he said that while current legislation provides for free access to education from early childhood to primary school, access is not defined as a right in the Constitution, although education regulations and child care and protection legislation place an obligation on the State to provide educational opportunities.

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/Law-to-make-free-education-a-right_68528

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