Perspective - Page 8

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…

Unprotected Domestic Workers

Domestic workers in Sindh are some of the most sought-after yet oppressed people in the region. Constantly flouted labour laws have resulted in a cemented culture of child labour practice, inhumane working hours, meagre pay that more often than not misses the minimum wage mark, as well as disputes that…

The Cause and Effect of Madrassah Reform

Every few years in Pakistan, madrassahs return to the headlines as if they are a new discovery. A tragedy occurs. A security report is published. A political speech is delivered. And once again, the debate collapses into accusation and denial. There are few words in Pakistan’s public life that ignite…

Failing Girls on Education

Girls’ education statistics have shown remarkable improvements over the past few years, but, unfortunately, given the extremely weak starting point, they are still well off the mark for a nation that hopes to create a socioeconomic miracle. The Federal Ministry of Education and Technical Training’s Girls’ Education Statistics and Trends…

Easier CNIC Access

NADRA’S decision to issue CNICs to first-time applicants without requiring them to produce a birth certificate is a practical step. For years, the lack of a computerised birth certificate issued by local governments, especially in rural and underserved districts, has kept thousands of citizens, mostly women, from obtaining a national…

The Road to School is Harder for Some

PESHWAR: Every day, 15-year-old Mashal Khan, a sixth-grade student, walks three kilometres from his home to his government high school in Jalala. The journey takes him longer than other children and is especially arduous because he was born with disability in both feet. “It is very difficult for me to…

Childhood Cancer

Not all parents have an equal chance of success at saving their child from a fatal illness. Unfortunately, while fate determines lifespan, so does geography. According to experts, childhood cancer survival rates exceed 80 per cent in wealthy countries but in low- and middle-income countries, such as Pakistan, they drop…

Health in Shambles

PAKISTAN’S health sector is no longer merely under strain, it is in complete disarray. The Pakistan Medical Association’s Health of the Nation 2026 report reveals a crisis that has long festered, is preventable and most worryingly, normalised. The numbers should jolt policymakers: 675 newborns and 27 mothers die every single…

Autism in Our Classrooms

The teacher was halfway through explaining a lesson when she suddenly stopped. A piece of chalk slipped from her fingers and clattered to the floor as her eyes fixed on a child sitting in the corner of the classroom. The boy had begun rocking his chair back and forth, his…

When Tradition Becomes Deadly

PESHAWAR/ LAHORE/ KARACHI: Every now and then, some isolated case of honour killings makes its way to the media. However, beyond individual tragedies lies a bleak national picture, where family forgiveness, judicial delays, and weaknesses in law enforcement allow innocents to continue being killed in the name of honour. Honour…

AI In The Classroom

LAST week Abu Dhabi hosted the ‘Machines Can Think 2026’ conference. Given the region’s enthusiastic embrace of AI, the availability of resources for ambitious approaches, and the openness to pursue them, I was most interested in one particular panel discussion session, titled ‘AI Classroom — Rethinking Education for the Knowledge…