LAHORE, July 16: Punjab Education Minister Rana Mashhood Ahmad Khan has said the provincial government will soon be legislating for Article 25-A to impart free and compulsory education to all children in 5-16 years age bracket in the province.

In a statement issued here on Tuesday, he said, the draft law would soon be made public for feedback before tabling it in the Punjab Assembly for approval in a month or so.

In order to ensure provision of free and compulsory education to all children of school-going age, he said, ‘District Education Authority (DEA)’ would be established in each district that would effectively implement the relevant law. He said the authority would be empowered to grant a cash prize up to Rs1 million to the educational institutions in districts producing excellent results.

On the other hand, he said, the educational institutions producing pathetic results would be held accountable through the DEA that would also redress complaints regarding any hindrance to education promotion.