Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) is a citizen-led, household-based survey. It was conducted in 2021 during Covid-19 across 152 rural districts of Pakistan assessing the learning outcomes of children aged 5-16 while also collecting information on the impact of the pandemic on learning and other household indicators . The survey gives an overview of the learning competencies (grades 2/3-lower primary) of Pakistan’s children whether in-school or out of school. This survey was conducted
Child Rights in Focus
VACCINES are the most cost-effective health care interventions. A dollar spent on a childhood vaccination not only helps save a life, but greatly reduces spending on future healthcare. Ezekiel Emanuel Importance of early childhood vaccination has become somewhat of a universal fact now but somehow Pakistan, a country with 14% of its total population being under-five, is oblivious to this fact. According to UNICEF estimates, the neonatal (newborn) mortality rate for Pakistan in 2021
Mathew is an Urdu language short film whose story revolves around Iqbal Mathew, a 12-year-old house help. The film depicts the issue of inequality between different social classes and that how even relatively moderate and educated families can end up discriminating against and violating the equal citizenry rights of the marginalized members of society. It has been produced as part of Center for Research and Security Studies Paving Pathways to Social Cohesion initiative. Credit:
WHILE the elites are locked in an internecine power struggle, millions of flood-affected, homeless and destitute citizens have been left to fend for themselves. Most of these wretched families have been practically forced to cater to their own needs — food, shelter, health and above all, the education of their psychologically traumatised children. The situation is grave in Sindh where about 20,000 public schools have been destroyed or considerably damaged, depriving hundreds of thousands of
The Islamabad Capital Administration has announced the Rules of the Hindu Marriage Act 2017 titled ‘Islamabad Capital Territory Hindu Marriage Rules 2023’ after more than five years since it came into force, Daily Dawn reported on April 7, 2023. This will enable members of the Hindu minority to perform their marriages in accordance with established rituals. The notification has been forwarded to all Union Councils in the federal territory for implementation. According to the
The total number of convicted and undertrial juveniles imprisoned in various borstal institutes and jails of Punjab province was 645 as on 15 March 2022 (Prisons Department, Govt. of Punjab). Out of the total number of juvenile offenders, 81% (523) juveniles were on trial (under trial) and 19% were convicted juvenile offenders. All juvenile offenders were male and no female was confined in any jail of Punjab. There were also no condemned juvenile offenders,
Out-of-school children are children aged 5 to 16 who have never attended school and children who attended school and then dropped out. According to PSLM 2019-20, the proportion of children not attending school is 32 percent nationally in 2019-20. A regional comparison shows that the proportion of children out of school is higher in rural areas, at 37 percent, than in urban areas, at 22 percent. Punjab has the lowest number of children out
The Child Marriage Restraint Act 1929 was drafted by Quaid-i-Azam- Mohammad Ali Jinnah (Father of the Nation) and introduced by a Hindu, Rai Haridas Sarda, and is also known as the Sarda Bill. Jinnah was very concerned about the widespread child marriage in British India, which he considered a violation of the fundamental rights of young girls and a major obstacle to their education and development. In 1927, Mohammad Ali Jinnah introduced a bill
According to Sahil (a non-governmental organisation working for the protection of children), a total of 4,253 cases of child sexual abuse were reported in 2022 in Pakistan. These child sexual abuse cases were reported from all four provinces of Pakistan, including Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT), Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B). The data shows that there are cases of child sexual abuse, abductions, missing children and child marriages. Based on the statistics,
Honourable Justice BABAR SATTAR of the The Islamabad High Court Issuing a written order on the plea of a woman seeking recovery of her 16-year-old daughter who had filed an affidavit to say she had tied the knot of her own free will. The Islamabad High Court (IHC) declared the marriage of anyone under 18 years of age as being unlawful. A child is defined as a person who has not attained the age
Enactment and enforcement of legislation against child marriage has repeatedly run into resistance that claims religious authority. Overcoming this resistance will require a wider intellectual engagement with the foundations and structure of religious thought. Consider. The latest report on Pakistan, based on figures contained in the Unicef database 2016, issued by the Center for Reproductive Rights makes for grim reading: “Child marriage in Pakistan constitutes an ongoing human rights violation on a large scale.
HEALTHY human capital is a critical gauge of economic stability. The money spent on healthcare is a major determinant of economic growth which can help increase income levels. According to S.J. Mushkin’s hypothesis, it is an investment that concerns the national economy and aids in high productivity and prosperity. Likewise, learning skills have a pivotal role in economic growth; these are enhanced when mental, physical and nutritional needs are fulfilled. A healthy nation brings