Section 37: Compulsory education up to age of 16

37. Compulsory education up to age of 16 (1) Every child who has attained such age as may be prescribed for admission to a primary school shall attend a primary school. (2) It shall be compulsory for every child to attend school up to the end of the academic year in the course of which he attains the age of 16. (3) Any responsible party of a child under the age of 16 who, without reasonable cause, refuses or neglects to cause the child to attend school regularly in accordance with subsection (1) or (2) shall commit an offence and shall, on conviction, be liable to a fine not exceeding 10,000 rupees and to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years. (4) For the purpose of this section— “academic year”, in relation to a school, means such academic year as the Minister may determine; “pre-vocational course” means such course for students having failed the Certificate of Primary Education examination as the Minister may approve; E2 – 19 [Issue 9] Education Act “school” means— (a) a primary or secondary school, including a special education needs school, registered under this Act; (b) such institution as the Minister may authorise to run the prevocational course; or (c) such institution as the Minister may authorise to run a technical or vocational course. [S. 37 amended by Act 10 of 1991; repealed and replaced by s. 3 (b) of Act 44 of 2004; s. 14 (q) of Act 18 of 2016 w.e.f. 7 September 2016 and 1 January 2017.]