perspective-child rights - Page 14

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…

Transport For Schooling

A JUDGE at the Lahore High Court recently ordered that schools should arrange for and organise transport for schoolchildren by the end of the winter break. The order came in the hearings on the case about smog in Lahore. The use of public transport for schooling is expected to reduce vehicular traffic…

The Age Of Consent And The Borders Of Belief

ICT Child Marriage Restraint Act, 2025 marks a pivotal step toward a…

Ghost Schools

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

Babies Deaths

The heartbreaking loss of 20 infants — mostly newborns — at Pakpattan’s District Headquarters (DHQ) Hospital between June 16 and 22 is a damning indictment of systemic healthcare failures. While five health officials, including the Health CEO and Medical Superintendent, have been remanded, the initial inquiries reveal a tragedy rooted in layers…

Why Health Education Belongs in Our Classrooms

ISLAMABAD: Across Pakistan, children are growing up with questions they don’t know how to ask — and when they do ask, they’re often met with silence, nervous laughter, or a quick change of subject. Some questions are whispered among friends in school corridors. Some are typed quietly into search bars…

No Education

WE just saw the release of the Pakistan Economic Survey 2024-25 and the presentation of the budget for 2025-26. There is a lot that can be said about the economy and the budget, but in this article I want to focus on education and what the Survey and the budget…

Zero Dose Children

These ‘zero-dose’ children – those who have not received any vaccinations In the last five decades, vaccinations have granted life to an estimated 154 million children around the world. A study, published in prestigious British medical journal The Lancet, while touting this marvellous feat of modern medicine, is flashing red…

Undoing a Mother’s Rights

AS our collective consciousness untangles itself from stories and headlines dense with ‘downed Rafale jets’ and ‘mun torr jawabs’, one must turn to recent Supreme Court judgements as a sobering reminder of how crucial the fight for social justice is. Deep within the shadows of societal shame is a segment…

Climate change: Students’ Woes

This will have a profound impact on long-term outcomes It is not just flooding or other disasters that are taking a toll on our schoolchildren. Increasing extreme weather events are making school a dangerous place to be for several weeks out of the year. The searing classrooms of Lahore and…

All Work And No Play

IDIOMS and proverbs are said to be a reflection of society, and they provide valuable insight into the shared wisdom and ways of thinking in a particular culture. Let’s take a look at two sayings from two different cultures on the topic of play and sports to try and understand…

It Is Time To Raise Better Sons

In Pakistan, we have witnessed several episodes of violence, harassment, repression and even murder of several women across the various layers of our economic strata. From the affluent Noor Mukaddam to the totally unknown little Zainab, we have seen countless girls and women of all age groups suffer at the…

Criminalising Child Marriage

CHILD marriage persists in Pakistan for many reasons, and ending the practice requires measures that are sensitive to the problem’s complexity. Debates on child marriage tend to reduce this complexity to two opposing legal positions. Proponents of gender equality and child welfare support higher minimum age limits for child marriage…

Measles Outbreak

Measles is not a new disease. Nor is its prevention a mystery. The future of any nation rests in the hands of its children — a truth so self-evident, it should never need repeating. Yet in Pakistan, and particularly in Sindh, we are reminded all too often that the most basic…