The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Assembly witnessed a noisy session over the issue of 14 schools in Lower Dir having no teachers for 14 years. Member of the Provincial Assembly, Ubaidur Rahman stated, schools have not been made functional since long, depriving students, particurly the female students, of education. Law Minister Aftab Alam Afridi said, “The appointment of teachers is done through the Public Service Commission. A committee has been formed to appoint teachers. Work in this
Child Rights in Focus
Private education has over the years steadily morphed into a profit-maximising business, overshadowing its core mission of learning and development. This shift has taken such precedence that many schools today consider themselves brands first and educational institutions second — complete with branded uniforms and study packs. It is this unchecked commercialisation that has now forced the Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) to intervene and issue show-cause notices to seventeen major private schools. Parents were
KARACHI: Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah on November 22 urged madressahs to incorporate science and skills into their curriculum, emphasising that this would enable students to excel in the modern world. Addressing the annual convention of Jamia Tur Rasheed, he said that madressahs should teach students how to strengthen the relationship with the Creator and how to treat His creations with kindness. “By doing so, we can achieve peace, brotherhood, and progress in
TAXILA: The local administration and education department have failed to retrieve 10 kanals of Government Girls Elementary School Marri in tehsil Jand of Attock from the encroachment mafia. According to reports, the school was originally established on 15 kanals, but due to encroachment by influential individuals, its area has now shrunk to around five kanals. Although the local court issued a verdict in June 2024, supporting the school administration’s claim to the occupied land,
THE rising abuse of an anticonvulsant medication in the market is destroying the lives of the country’s youth. The drug, whose generic name is pregabalin and which is available under different brand names, decreases the number of pain signals that are sent out by damaged nerves in the body. Young individuals, even including teenagers, across the country are using it mixed with so-called energy drinks or soft drinks. They buy it over-the-counter (OTC) without
KARACHI: An awareness walk was organised by the Sindh Social Welfare Department at Sea View on November 22 in connection with World Children’s Day, where Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah renewed his government’s resolve to safeguard children’s rights and promote their welfare. The event sought to draw attention to issues concerning children’s protection, education and overall wellbeing. Participants appreciated the government’s ongoing efforts to strengthen child protection mechanisms across the province. During the
A seventh-grade student has developed a smart stick for visually impaired individuals that alerts users of obstacles through sound and vibration. The invention was showcased at the Bachaapreneur competition held at the National Incubation Centre in Karachi. Radhe Krishna, who has been interested in robotics since Grade 5, told The Express Tribune that he was inspired by a video on social media. “I researched, built several prototypes, and this is my latest version,” he said. The
PESHAWAR: Health experts have demanded that the government to make operational the province’s first-ever children hospital forthwith. They made the demand while speaking at a function held at the Khyber Institute of Child Health (KICH), Hayatabad, on November 22. The event was organised by Pakistan Paediatric Association (PPA), Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chapter, in collaboration with the Unicef, in connection with Children’s Day. Addressing the ceremony, PPA provincial president Dr Syed Bawar Shah said KICH’s affiliated
LAHORE: The Pakistan Civil Services Academy (CSA), Walton Campus, has launched a five-day public school attachment programme for probationary officers of the 53rd Common Training Programme (CTP), marking a significant step toward strengthening public education and promoting environmental responsibility across Punjab. The initiative, introduced in November 2025, places trainee civil servants directly inside government schools to observe ground realities, support teaching activities, and engage with students and communities. The programme aligns with the United
Islamabad: It’s time to look beyond the headlines of child labor and face a harsher truth. The poor are losing their sons to the streets. Across our class-divided society, a chilling wave of juvenile criminality is sweeping up the voiceless children of marginalised families. This crisis isn’t an anomaly—it’s the inevitable, systemic consequence of extreme poverty and the deliberate, unequal distribution of life’s essential resources. The shattered innocence, are not just falling through the
The Department of Education, Punjab, has granted final approval for the revised admission policy for the 2026 academic year, together with the new school calendar and the schedule for annual examinations. It has also sanctioned the replacement of 29 textbooks for classes from six to matric. The newly proposed syllabus has been endorsed with only minor amendments, and the updated textbooks are set to go to print in December. The department has confirmed that
Across Pakistan’s towns and cities, families wrestle with agonising choices each month: which bill to pay, which cost to delay and, increasingly, whether to keep paying school fees. After rent and food, little remains. For many households, that scarcity means deciding which child gets to stay in school. More often than not, boys are prioritised while girls are asked to step aside – a reflection of entrenched cultural norms that see sons as future