Perspective - Page 5

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…

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…

Exam Paper Leak

Another exam paper scandal has surfaced in Karachi in which individuals running multiple WhatsApp groups, monetising access to Matric and Intermediate papers, were arrested. Such incidents have, for the umpteenth time, exposed how examination systems in Pakistan are designed, managed, and ultimately compromised. The details matter. Organised groups were selling…

Lingering Threat of Polio

The recently concluded nationwide anti-polio campaign is being called a resounding success by those directly involved in the vaccination drive. The National Emergency Operations Center reports that over 44.7 million children under five received the vaccine, a figure just shy of the 45 million target, representing over 99% coverage. A…

Online Schooling

ESHAAL, a 12-year-old student in Grade 7, sits in front of her laptop screen attending a 45-minute math lesson online. Her video is on, the teacher can see her, but she is disconnected from the lesson. Instead, she is consumed by a private chat with her friend on another window.…