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…

The Age Of Consent And The Borders Of Belief

ICT Child Marriage Restraint Act, 2025 marks a pivotal step toward a safer, progressive Pakistan KARACHI. Child rights organisations and advocates, along with concerned citizens, have warmly welcomed the passage of recent legislation on child marriages, describing it as a landmark step toward protecting the rights and well-being of children.…

Ghost Schools

KARACHI: Apropos the letter “Ghost Teachers” published on September 19, 2024, the…

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.…

Educational Discrimination of its Kind

The other day, a private educational institution offered me an opportunity to guide its students on how to solve the question paper in board exams to achieve maximum marks or at least how to avoid deduction of marks because of lack of right and relevant information. The selected students, the…

Addressing OOSC

A highly ambitious plan to enrol half of the 25.1 million out-of-school children in Pakistan by 2030 has just been undertaken by the Sindh government in collaboration with UNICEF. The move aims to tackle larger issues such as poverty, child labour, gender discrimination and access to education over the next…

HIV Horror

HIV/AIDS is rapidly becoming one of Pakistan’s most serious healthcare concerns. According to the WHO, new infections have risen by 200 per cent over the last 15 years ­– from 16,000 in 2010 to 48,000 in 2024. The WHO also estimates that 350 000 people are living with HIV in…

Why Students Cheat

On social media, a wave of videos recently exposed students using advanced gadgets to cheat in examinations. While the focus has been on policing misconduct, a deeper issue remains unexamined: students are not disengaging from education because of a lack of discipline, but because they increasingly question its value. For…

In Unsafe Hands

AN HIV outbreak among children should have been a turning point for Taunsa’s main public hospital. Instead, an investigation by the BBC suggests that little has changed. Undercover footage from the Tehsil Headquarters Hospital, filmed about eight months after the government’s crackdown in March 2025, shows syringes being reused, injections administered through clothing, and unqualified…

Polio Security

Yesterday, the government initiated a nationwide polio vaccination campaign, aiming to reach over 45 million children under the age of five. Such drives are meant to signal resolve, yet this one has begun under the shadow of violence, with the martyrdom of a police officer in Hangu, K-P, exposing once…

Violating Right to Free Education

Poverty, food insecurity, gender inequality, and funding – all of these reasons have been used by the government on various occasions to explain why there are 26.2 million children aged 5-16 out of school. A country that has the world’s second-highest number of out-of-school children is apparently so steeped in…
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