ISLAMABAD: A parliamentary panel on 29th July showed concerns over an alleged massive increase in fees by private schools and directed the regulatory body to appear in its next meeting to explain its official position. The Senate Standing Committee on Education held a meeting with Senator Bushra Anjum Butt in the chair. Senator Hidayatullah Khan highlighted the issue of the rising private school fees, which were becoming unaffordable for the common man. The chairperson
Child Rights in Focus
RAWALPINDI: The Punjab government has formed a high-powered committee to prepare an academic calendar following the directives from Lahore High Court Rawalpindi Bench Senior Judge, Justice Jawad Hassan, on Thursday. The judge termed the extension of summer vacations across Punjab as undesirable, saying that the High Court would resolve this matter permanently. The committee is comprised of Punjab Advocate General Usman Khan, Assistant Advocate General Barrister Raja Hashim Javed, Secretary Higher Education, Secretary Law
PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa elementary and secondary education department has initiated work to outsource 1,500 government primary schools in the province to private organisations over low enrolment and poor academic performance, say officials. They told Dawn that the schools would be outsourced to the private organisations working in the education sector, preferably non-profit organisations. “The education department has declared government primary schools with 40 and below enrolment as under-utilised,” an official said. He said the education
RAWALPINDI: As many as 79 buildings of government schools in Rawalpindi district have been declared dangerous. The local administration has asked the District Education Authority to conduct a survey and present a report about remaining school buildings. There are more than 1800 schools in the district and 323 of them have been outsourced, but the buildings are still in the government possession and 79 of them have been declared dangerous. These figures were shared
PESHAWAR: Chief Minister Ali Amin Khan Gandapur said here on 28th August that provincial government paid Rs654 million as compensation to the families of 350 persons, who lost their lives due to recent floods, while pending cases involving minors were being processed through accounts opened by deputy commissioners. In a video statement issued here, he talked about the provincial government’s relief and rehabilitation measures for flood victims. He said that since August 15, cloudbursts
ISLAMABAD: Minister of State for National Health Services Dr Malik Mukhtar Ahmad Bharath has said the ministry will take all possible steps to introduce the hepatitis B birth dose vaccine nationwide. He claimed that the ministry was also focusing on strengthening the health system of Islamabad Capital Territory with the vision of scaling it up as a model health city, setting a benchmark for other cities across the country. He was speaking to representatives
TWO more children have been paralysed by poliovirus in Tank and North Waziristan, bringing Pakistan’s cases this year to 23. Of these, 15 are from KP. This concentration means that the province has become the epicentre of the crisis and that routine responses are failing to turn the tide. With the country in such dire straits, it beggars belief that just a few weeks ago, the federal health minister boasted before international partners of
LAHORE: Police claimed to have solved the mystery surrounding the discovery of a newborn’s body from a garbage drum in Gulshan-e-Ravi, arresting the prime suspect involved in the crime. A police spokesperson said SSP Investigation Muhammad Naveed had taken notice of the incident after the infant’s body was recovered earlier this week. He tasked SP Investigation Iqbal Town, Sidra Khan, with constituting a special team to trace and arrest those responsible. Police arrested the
ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court has set aside the conviction of a man accused of incest, observing that such grave allegations require a higher standard of proof supported by credible prosecution witnesses. “A rare allegation of one of the most serious offences committed in the presence of other children and old father of the convict in the house had been levelled,” observed a 10-page judgement authored by Justice Ali Baqar Najafi. “According to the victim
KARACHI: A study conducted by the Aga Khan University (AKU) has found that one in four children, aged three to eight, attending public schools in Karachi are at high risk of developmental delays. The developmental delays mean a child has not achieved expected age-related skills in one or more areas, such as movement, speech, thinking, or social skills. The study also finds that children from low-income families and ethnic minority backgrounds are especially vulnerable
PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Elementary and Secondary Education Department has decided to replace the current British-era annual examination system in the schools up to grade 8 with the two-semester system. Education secretary Mohammad Khalid told Dawn that the new examination system would lessen academic burden on students and teachers and end student learning losses due to months-long vacation. He said that Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur had already given the formal consent to the idea of
ISLAMABAD: As the special polio campaign is set to begin on Sept 1, Federal Minister for Health Syed Mustafa Kamal has directed the polio programme to ensure that no child is missed during the vaccination drive. He was speaking at a briefing held at the National Emergency Operation Centre. The minister reaffirmed the government’s commitment to completely eradicate polio. He emphasised the importance of implementing effective strategies in high-risk areas to achieve comprehensive immunisation