As new academic year begins parents struggle with skyrocketing fees, uniform costs RAWALPINDI: The new academic year in Punjab is set to begin on April 7, while the results for annual exams from nursery to eighth grade will be announced today, April 4. Significant changes have been made in the curriculum, with textbooks for classes six to ten being replaced. For ninth-grade admissions, students will now have six group options including computer science, medical
Child Rights in Focus
ISLAMABAD: The local production of Weekly Iron and Folic Acid Supplementation (WIFAS) in adolescent doses could prevent around 15 million adolescent girls in Pakistan from suffering from iron deficiency anemia as ensuring sustainable access to these supplements could significantly reduce costs and lessen reliance on expensive imports, according to officials and nutrition experts. Iron deficiency anaemia is the leading cause of lost disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) among adolescent girls (10-19 years) worldwide. The World
LAHORE: Chief Minister Punjab Maryam Nawaz Sharif has announced significant initiatives for children with autism, including establishment of autism centres in 27 divisional public schools across the province. These centres aim to provide specialised education, training and rehabilitation for children with autism. Extending Eid greetings to children with autism on the eve of World Autism Awareness Day, the CM reaffirmed her commitment to their well-being. She stated that children with autism are not patients
CHINIOT: A five-year-old boy missing since March 26 was found murdered near his home in Muslim Colony, Chenab Nagar. Muhammad Haseeb, son of Mulazim Hussain, had gone out to play but never returned. His family searched for him before lodging a kidnap case at Chenab Nagar police. On Tuesday, his body was found in bushes near his house. The police added Section 302 to the case’s supplementary report. Chenab Nagar SHO Ghulam Shabbir said
PESHAWAR: The Alkhidmat Foundation on 02-April-2025 arranged a ceremony to distribute Eidul Fitr among orphans, street children and those suffering from thalassemia. The ceremony was held at the provincial headquarters of the foundation here with provincial president Khalid Waqas in the chair, while Jamaat-e-Islami Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (Central) President Abdul Wasi was the chief guest. Speaking on the occasion, Khalid Waqas shared the foundation’s ongoing efforts in the region. He said that the foundation is
Islamabad: Poor performance of students, especially in classes 3-5, as reflected in the recent annual exam results of Islamabad’s public schools and colleges, has sparked concerns among educators and parents, leading to criticism of the ineffective teacher training programme and flawed promotion policy. According to teachers, the Taleemabad organisation conducted training sessions for elementary school educators throughout the last academic year. However, the sessions, led by inexperienced trainers, failed to provide meaningful support. They
Sale of toy weapons increases manifold during Eid holidays in Pindi RAWALPINDI: The indulgence of children in the purchase of dangerous toy weapons, playing games like ‘thief and police’ in the streets of Rawalpindi during Eid holidays has raised questions for parents and authorities. These games involved fake armed encounters and firing toy guns, with children pretending to be injured and falling down. Throughout the three days of Eid, children spent all their “Eidi”
Majority of women and girls have no legal existence in the official systems PESHAWAR: Where limited access to registration centers, particularly in remote and underserved areas, can partly explain the low birth registration rate for girls in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, the social bias that confines women to the four walls of the home continues to withhold many from getting a legal identity. In the absence of a birth certificate, not only are girls excluded from availing
Keamari residents stage protest with the dead body, demanding justice KARACHI: Three-year-old Abdul Rehman was playing when he fell into an uncovered sewer on the evening of 2nd April in Keamari district. The child had gone missing while playing near his house, thereafter family and neighbours searched for him, coming to discover that he had fallen into an open manhole. His body was recovered from the manhole and shifted to a nearby hospital, where
BAHAWALPUR: Four suspects who raped and killed an 11-year-old girl on March 24 were her relatives, with two of them her maternal uncles. Sadar police SDPO Agha Fasihuddin told media on Sunday the culprits were traced by police teams with the help of geofencing, using latest technology. The SDPO said a special investigation team, constituted by DPO Asad Sarfraz Khan, immediately cordoned off the crime scene with the help of officials of the Crime
KARACHI: Despite government efforts to improve immunisation status of children, an alarming situation over measles persists with at least 28 deaths reported in the first three months of this year at two tertiary-care hospitals in the city alone, it emerged on 28th March. Speaking to Dawn, senior paediatricians associated with different health facilities said that while there were periodic surges in measles’ cases throughout the year, especially with the onset of winters, the situation had
LAHORE: The Township investigation police arrested a man on the charge of raping his nine-year-old nephew and strangling him to conceal his crime. The suspect was booked on murder and other charges. The incident happened about one-and-a-half months back Initial inquiries suggested that the suspect was so clever that he pretended as if he was in utter grief over the sudden disappearance of his minor nephew and spent most of his time in search