91. With regard to the right of the child to education, article 10 of the Education Act No. 3 of 1994, stipulates that:

(a) Basic education shall be compulsory and shall be provided free of charge at government schools;

(b) Pupils shall be admitted to the first year of basic education if they will have reached the age of six by the end of December of the academic year in which they are admitted;

139. The phenomenon of child labour is fairly limited in the Kingdom. Jordan recently ratified International Labour Convention No. 138 which calls for the imposition of a minimum age for employment. In fact, Jordanian legislation prohibited child labour long ago and, in order to protect young persons from exploitation, their terms and conditions of employment were clearly regulated in the Jordanian Labour Act No. 8 of 1996, which banned the employment of children under 16 years of age, as compared with the old Labour Act No. 21 of 1960 which set the minimum age for employment at 13.

173. The issues not addressed in this report and which the Committee on the Rights of the Child designated as principal subjects of concern in section D of its concluding observations (CRC/C/15/Add.21) adopted following its consideration of Jordan's report for 1993 at its 143rd, 144th and 145th meetings, held in April 1994, are listed in sequence below:

Paragraph 10: The Government, in collaboration with private bodies, is currently making preparations for the promulgation of a Children's Rights Act combining all the legislation on the protection, development and advancement of children. This new bill of law, which is currently under study at the Legislative Department of the Office of the Prime Minister, calls for a modification of the minimum age for marriage.

1. In Jordanian legislation, a child is defined as follows:

154. Annex 6 contains copies of the Juveniles Act No. 24 of 1968 and the amending Act No. 7 of 1983.

155. The above-mentioned Juveniles Act applies to delinquent children. Special courts have been established to hear juvenile cases, the proceedings of which are subject to various conditions and restrictions such as the requirement that such cases be heard in an expeditious manner. The Act also specifies the judicial measures that can be taken against juveniles. For example, article 18 stipulates as follows: