Govt institutions show improvement in pass rates LAHORE: The Punjab School Education Boards (BISE) have announced the matriculation exam results for 2025 in which private schools have taken top positions in all eight Boards of Intermediate and Secondary Education (BiSE). However, government schools also have shown a major improvement in pass rates, which experts say is a good sign of education reforms starting to work. Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif congratulated the position-holding students
Child Rights in Focus
SWABI. Police have arrested a cleric for allegedly subjecting a six-year-old boy to physical abuse for arriving late at the mosque, according to a press release issued by the District Police Officer (DPO) Office. Complainant Muhammad Asim informed the police that his son, Muhammad Esa, who is enrolled in religious studies at Jamia Mosque Dheranay, Meera Dhoke, Chota Lahore, was severely beaten by the mosque’s cleric, Muhammad Sohail. The child was reportedly struck with
Pakistan stands at a critical demographic and health crossroads. With one of the highest maternal mortality ratios in the world outside Africa, a population of almost 250 million, high food insecurity and limited water, there is an urgent need for population policy reforms that keep the living alive while reducing the pace of new additions. Birth spacing could be an important tool towards this goal. The practice is straightforward — deliberate intervals between pregnancies to
KARACHI: Over 400 employees at the Sindh Government Children’s Hospital in Karachi, operated under a public-private partnership, have reportedly gone unpaid for the past four months. Staff members have warned the administration that if their salaries are not disbursed by August, they will launch protest demonstrations. Speaking to The Express Tribune, hospital administrators confirmed the delay in salary payments. They assured that pending dues would be cleared next month, adding that the hospital’s budget
MANSEHRA: An Afghan national, accused of murdering a minor boy, was killed on Thursday as his men launched a gun attack on police in the Ichrian area to free him. “As the police took the accused, Najeebullah, to the crime scene for evidence collection, his associates indiscriminately fired at them. However, the bullets hit the accused, killing him immediately,” district police officer Shafiullah Khan Gandapur told reporters here. The police handed over the body
BAHAWALPUR: Bahawalpur Saddar police thwarted a bid by a man to marry a 13-year-old girl and arrested four suspects, including the would-be groom, at Basti Azeempur here on 24th July. According to the First Information Report No 908/25 registered under sections 420, 468, 471 of the Pakistan Penal Code and relevant sections of the Child Marriage Restraint Act 1929, ASI Azhar Javed, on a tip-off, raided a place in Bast Azeempur. It says that
ISLAMABAD: Resurgence of polio in southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Karachi is being driven by poor sanitation and repeated failure to vaccinate large numbers of children due to security and operational challenges, National Assembly’s Standing Committee on National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination warned on 24-July-2025. The committee, chaired by MNA Dr. Mahesh Kumar Malani, emphasized that eradication efforts must go beyond immunization campaigns and called on local administrations to urgently improve environmental hygiene, particularly
ISLAMABAD: After some debate, the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) on 24th July declared appropriate birth spacing essential for the health of mothers and children. The CII, which advises parliament on how to align legislation with the principles of the Holy Quran and Sunnah of the Holy Prophet (PBUH), held a one-day consultative session in collaboration with the Population Council on Thursday. In the declaration issued after the session, CII members declared appropriate birth
SWAT: A court remanded 11 madressah teachers in custody for two days here on 24th July over the alleged torture and murder of a minor seminarian. The suspects’ handover to police was ordered by Khwazakhela’s judicial magistrate. The boy died from critical injuries on Monday evening after allegedly being beaten up by their teachers in Chaliyar village of Khwazakhela tehsil. The police arrested 11 teachers on suspicion. However, the main suspect, who is the madressah administrator
Non-formal education is the only method through which out-of-school children can receive education. Sindh Education Minister Syed Sardar Ali Shah said this on 23 July 2025 as he addressed as the chief guest a ceremony for handing over gadgets to 500 non-formal education centres established across the province. The project was accomplished by the School education department with the collaboration of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). Shah stated that the Sindh government had
SWAT: District police officer Mohammad Umar Khan on 23rd July announced the arrest of 11 individuals, including administrator of an unregistered seminary, in connection with the brutal killing of a 12-year-old student and the systematic abuse of children at the institution located in the Chaliyar area of Khwazakhela here. Addressing a press conference at his office in Saidu Sharif alongside SP investigations Badshah Hazrat Khan, the DPO confirmed that two main suspects remained at
In an important development towards enhancing evidence-based policy and advocacy for children in Pakistan, Obun2, in partnership with the National Commission on the Rights of Child (NCRC), has developed a comprehensive dataset on child rights across the country. This initiative responds to the urgent need for structured, reliable, and regularly updated information on the status of children in Pakistan—spanning education, health, child protection, climate change, and other critical indicators. The newly launched Child Nexus Pakistan platform serves