LAHORE: One thousand playfields will be built in schools of Punjab besides awarding monthly scholarships to 1,000 talented children of inter-school competitions. It was decided at a meeting held between Punjab Sports Minister Faisal Ayub with Education Minister Rana Sikandar Hayat here on Wednesday. It was also decided that the ‘Khiltey School” meetings will be held in the first week of every month. The meeting also decided to start a grassroots talent hunt programme
Child Rights in Focus
Child marriage is not a tradition we can afford to romanticise. It is a violation of childhood, consent and opportunity. Defined as any formal or informal union where one or both parties are under 18, child marriage remains one of Pakistan’s most persistent forms of gender inequality. Despite legal prohibitions, girls continue to be married before they are old enough to choose, study, work, vote, or understand the consequences of a decision made for
ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly on May 12 gave the nod to the Anti-Rape (Amendment) Bill 2026, which declares sexual assault, physical abuse and child exploitation non-bailable offences. Under the provisions of the anti-rape amendment, law enforcement agencies must ensure child victims undergo medical examination by a certified forensic expert within 24 hours. The law also mandates strict safeguards to protect victims’ dignity, privacy and security during the process. Forensic evidence collected during examinations will
TAXILA: Speakers at an awareness seminar in Attock on May 11 said the Punjab government was taking initiatives to modernise the education sector by introducing Artificial Intelligence (AI), digital learning and advanced teaching technologies across the province. The seminar, organised by Nawaz Sharif School of Eminence, brought together students, parents, teachers and education stakeholders from different areas of the district. Addressing the gathering, participants were informed that the Nawaz Sharif School of Eminence project
Rawalpindi: For hundreds of families bringing their children to Al-Shifa Trust Eye Hospital, the biggest fear is not only cancer, but whether delayed treatment has reduced the chances of saving their child’s eyesight and recovery. Doctors at the hospital’s Cancer Unit said nearly 140 children treated over the past three years are now free of cancer, a milestone they described as significant in a country where childhood eye cancer is often diagnosed at advanced
THE first 1,000 days of a child’s life often shape decades to come. In Pakistan, where chronic malnutrition has long harmed childhood development, an evaluation of the Benazir Nashonuma Programme shows that some children are finally getting a better start. The Aga Khan University study found a 22pc reduction in child stunting among beneficiary children at six months and an 18pc decline at one year. Equally encouraging were the reductions in low birth weight,
ON July 29, 2025, Maria Shahbaz, a 13-year-old Christian girl, was abducted in Lahore by her 30-year-old neighbour. She was subsequently forced to convert to Islam and marry her captor. A police investigation confirmed that the marriage certificate produced by the abductor was fabricated and not registered with any union council. The girl’s father presented the Nadra-issued B-Form and school records to the honourable court, as evidence of her age. However, on Feb 3,
TOBA TEK SINGH: A minor girl died after falling into an open manhole in Tandlianwala, Faisalabad, on May 10. Reports said Hania (4), daughter of Muhammad Wasim of Tayyaba Town locality, went to the street but did not return even after two hours. During a search, locals found her dead in an open manhole. Published in Dawn, May 11th, 2026.
Rawalpindi: Water and food-borne diseases including diarrhoea and gastrointestinal infections may hit the population hard in this region of the country in next two to three weeks as the existing hot weather conditions are conducive and much favourable for growth of microorganisms. The situation regarding spread of summer-related health threats is well under control at the moment, at least, in this region of the country and almost all public sector hospitals in town including
PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Private Schools Regularity Authority has decided to extend semester system to private schools to bring them at par with government educational institutions in terms of academic calendar. The elementary and secondary education department replaced the British-era annual examination system last year in government schools for students up to 8th grade with the two-semester system. The new system was introduced to lessen burden on students and teachers and save time of students.
TOBA TEK SINGH: Police claimed to have found the remains of a child, who was kidnapped on April 29, from the graveyard of his village, Chak 279 JB Bajwara in Gojra tehsil on May 10. Police said deceased Arham Zahid (12) disappeared from his home and a kidnapping case was registered against unidentified persons on April 29 by the Nawan Lahore Police. His father Zahid had claimed in his complaint that his son went
LAKKI MARWAT: Elders of Mela Mandrakhel have expressed their deep concern over the lack of higher secondary level education facilities and urged the provincial government to set up a higher secondary school for girls in the area. Talking to journalists here on Saturday, they said that the rural locality lacked proper educational facilities for girls, forcing them to travel to Lakki city on a daily basis to get higher secondary education. They said that