Perspective - Page 39

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…

Permitted age for employment of children as domestic workers

Do you know what the minimum age is for children in the different provinces of Pakistan to be employed as domestic workers? Child labour is a provincial subject in Pakistan after the 18th Constitutional Amendment in 2010. The 18th Constitutional Amendment devolved the issue of labour and employment to the…

Juvenile Offenders in Punjab

The total number of convicted and undertrial juveniles imprisoned in various borstal…

Transport For Schooling

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

Unveiling Deepfakes

Laila* first met Adeel* at a fine dining restaurant along the coastline of Karachi city, after eight months of online dating on Instagram. She was then 20, he 21. The two talked for hours as the golden sun set, meeting the horizon of the sea. Laila described Adeel as the…

Combatting human trafficking

Human trafficking in Pakistan is a severe and multifaceted problem that has affected countless individuals, particularly women and girls, coerced into exploitative labour or sexual servitude under the false pretences of better opportunities. The issue presents a dire humanitarian crisis, as it inflicts immeasurable suffering upon its victims and greatly…

Mother’s milk, mother’s choice

LAST month, the Senate approved the `Islamabad Capital Territory Protection of Breastfeeding and Child Nutrition Bill, 2023` that aims to discourage the use of breast milk substitutes. Back in November, there had been heated speeches on the floor of the Upper House regarding the import and sale of breast milk…

Transforming Education with Innovation

The MoFEPT has taken impactful initiatives that allow access to learning materials for all children from any location. We know the world today has entered a new technological era, bringing with it a social, political and economic interdependence. And because today’s world is far more complex than yesteryear’s, it requires…

Education should be a long-term priority

WITH elections behind us, it is time to get our focus right. Of course, putting the national economy back on track will take precedence over much else in the short term. However, in doing so, we should not lose sight of the long term, and in that context education is…

Education laws

The Lahore High Court (LHC) has recently ruled that the Punjab government must establish rules under the Punjab Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2014, to ensure the compliance with this law at private schools. The ruling comes after a private school filed a petition against the denial of a registration…

Reinventing basic education

In Pakistan, there is a rare consensus across political divides and among citizens concerning the dire state of education. Whether it is primary, secondary, or tertiary education, the system’s deficiencies are glaring. At present, there are a staggering 20 million children out of school, representing 40 per cent of the…

Pneumonia menace

ANIC is on the rise as the alarming surge in pneumonia cases has created an explosion of headlines sans information about prevention and cure. The menacing respiratory affliction has taken an ugly turn: this paper reported yesterday that a shocking 622 cases had come to light over 24 hours in…

Life expectancy and formal education quantified

An analysis by The Centre for Global Health Inequities Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation published in The Lancet Public Health journal reveals quantified relationship between formal education and life expectancy. Based on the data both from industrialised countries such as the UK and the US as well as developing…

Grace Marks by Sindh Government

In a move as surprising as it is contentious, the Sindh provincial government has decreed a generous 15% grace mark for students who faltered in their class XI examinations last year. The decision, prompted by an investigative committee report on the Board of Intermediate Education Karachi’s controversial results, comes as…