LAHORE, Jan 30: The Society for the Protection of the Rights of the Child (SPARC) has criticised the City District Government of Lahore’s decision of associating the immunisation programme with children’s education.

In a press release issued on Wednesday, the SPARC said the education remained costly privilege for most of the children belonging to poor families.

It said the recent decision by the CDGL of declaring compulsory the vaccination card at the time of issuance of birth certificates of children as well as their admissions in schools once again highlighted the failure of the healthcare system and was yet another major hindrance in access to education to the deserving children.

SPARC called the decision an absolute contradiction of Article 25-A of the Constitution which gives right to education to all children of age five to 16 years.

It is evident that education in Pakistan is in a state of crisis. Already a large number of children of school going age, between 35-40 per cent, remain out of school.

The article 25-A is certainly a ray of hope for the millions, a positive step towards meeting the target and building a prosperous Pakistan.

If the vaccination card makes mandatory for school admission, the education sector will completely collapse, says SPARC.

The society stressed strengthening the Expanded Immunization Programme to prevent children from various diseases instead of making adventures or violating rights of those who wanted to get education for bright future.