Perspective - Page 2

Insights From the 2023 Census Report

The 2023 Census conducted by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics released its complete report in July 2024 indicates that the total population of Pakistan is 240 million out of which the population of children under 18 is 112 Million (47% of the total population). Children Population (under 18) Population under 18 Total Male Female Transgender Pakistan 112,472,700 58,099,978 54,370,121 2,601…

Juvenile Offenders in Punjab

The total number of convicted and undertrial juveniles imprisoned in various borstal institutes and jails of Punjab province was 645 as on 15 March 2022 (Prisons Department, Govt. of Punjab). Out of the total number of juvenile offenders, 81% (523) juveniles were on trial (under trial) and 19% were convicted…

Transport For Schooling

A JUDGE at the Lahore High Court recently ordered that schools should arrange for…

Grace Marks by Sindh Government

In a move as surprising as it is contentious, the Sindh provincial…

Gender Progress

On May 11, the Federal Constitutional Court ruled that that custody of a child cannot be granted to the grandmother or paternal aunt solely on the basis of the mother’s second marriage. The ruling came in connection with a case regarding the custody of a nine-year-old child. Custody had initially…

Child Marriage: a Persistent Form of Gender Inequality

Child marriage is not a tradition we can afford to romanticise. It is a violation of childhood, consent and opportunity. Defined as any formal or informal union where one or both parties are under 18, child marriage remains one of Pakistan’s most persistent forms of gender inequality. Despite legal prohibitions,…

A Better Start

THE first 1,000 days of a child’s life often shape decades to come. In Pakistan, where chronic malnutrition has long harmed childhood development, an evaluation of the Benazir Nashonuma Programme shows that some children are finally getting a better start. The Aga Khan University study found a 22pc reduction in…

A Girl’s Age

ON July 29, 2025, Maria Shahbaz, a 13-year-old Christian girl, was abducted in Lahore by her 30-year-old neighbour. She was subsequently forced to convert to Islam and marry her captor. A police investigation confirmed that the marriage certificate produced by the abductor was fabricated and not registered with any union…

Education Corruption

The expanding corruption probe into Sindh’s education boards has laid bare a rot that goes far deeper than initially feared. What began as an investigation into irregularities at the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education, Mirpurkhas, has now spiralled into a province-wide scandal, implicating senior officials and the administrative hierarchy…

Unchecked HIV

PAKISTAN’S HIV surge is no longer a slow-burning public health concern. It is now a system failure unfolding in real time. What makes the crisis particularly alarming is not just the rising numbers — estimated at over 350,000 people living with the disease — but the profile of those newly…

Climate Readiness

AS policymakers gather for the Breathe Pakistan conference this week, the urgency is hard to miss. Each year, such forums bring new ideas. Yet the country’s climate risks keep growing. The question is no longer what we know, but what we are willing to do. The latest Jinnah Institute report…

Child Marriage Law

Child marriage in Pakistan has never been sustained by law alone. Instead, it has survived because the law itself has remained fractured. The passage of the Child Marriage Restraint Bill 2026 by the Punjab Assembly is therefore significant for what it exposes across the federation, which is a deeply uneven…

Inequality in Education

According to estimates, approximately 26.2 million children are out of school, including 13.4 million girls. Between 20% and 28% of school-age children are not enrolled at all, many forced to prioritise survival over education. Why do some children enjoy their right to education while others are denied it? Why are…

Student Comfort and School Infrastructure

In March, the march of tiny-weeny feet taps the corridors of the schools. The seedling signs of the start of a new academic year. The happy hum of new admissions spreads colours and smiles all around. However, the first day of a child at the school disillusions some parents when…