ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has sought a detailed report from the Private Educational Institutions Regulatory Authority (Peira) on whether elite private schools in the capital are complying with their statutory obligation to provide free education to underprivileged children. The court issued the directive during the hearing of a petition highlighting non-implementation of the Right to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2012. Justice Raja Inaam Ameen Minhas asked Peira to file a comprehensive
Child Rights in Focus
SHANGLA: A 12-year-old married girl ended her life by consuming poisonous substances in Damorai area here the other day. The deceased was married to her 10-year-old cousin six months ago. According to Shangla police spokesperson Umar Rehman, the incident occurred in the limits of Olandar police station in Damorai where the girl allegedly consumed poisonous substances and breathed her last. He said when the police team visited her home her mother was reluctant to
SAHIWAL: As the Child Protection and Welfare Bureau is set to produce 18 children recovered from an orphanage in Chichawatni city at a local court on Monday (29 Sep), certain questions remain unanswered regarding their origin and circumstances as 17 of them belong to Balochistan. They are under 8-10 age bracket. An illegal facility housing the children under the title of Ahmed Welfare Foundation has sparked serious concerns about the children’s welfare, the source
A team of female health workers was attacked on September 27 while administering vaccines against the human papillomavirus (HPV) in Punjab’s Mandi Bahauddin district, the second such incident in three days. The HPV vaccine, first launched in Pakistan in 2022, has now been rolled out nationwide as part of the routine immunisation programme to protect adolescent girls against cervical cancer. However, vaccine hesitancy in Pakistan remains a major public health challenge, driven by a mix of misinformation, safety
KARACHI: Two young girls, allegedly trafficked to the metropolis under the guise of job opportunities and later sold into prostitution, have been rescued and shifted to a shelter home after being taken into protective custody by police. According to PS Airport Head Moharrar Zaheer, the victims — a 19-year-old girl from Faisalabad and a 17-year-old from Okara — approached Special Security Unit (SSU) personnel near airport on Sept 26, claiming that they were being sold by
KARACHI: There has been a sharp surge in cases of cold, cough, and fever, as the seasonal influenza virus begins to spread rapidly in the metropolitan city. Both government hospitals and private clinics are witnessing a spike in patients, with vulnerable groups such as elderly citizens, young children, pregnant women, and those with respiratory ailments being the most affected. Medical experts have warned that the current strain of the influenza virus, identified as H1N1,
KARACHI: An alarming surge in incidents of children going missing or being kidnapped has sparked fear and anxiety among residents of the metropolis. In recent months, several cases have been reported in which missing children were later found dead. Pakistan Sunni Tehreek chief Bilal Abbas Qadri urged the government to take urgent and effective measures, including constituting special investigation teams, upgrading the citywide CCTV system, and ensuring exemplary punishment for those found involved in
MUZAFFARABAD: The Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) government has warned private educational institutions against announcing holidays or suspending classes on any date — a warning seen as a veiled reference to the September 29 lockdown call by the Jammu Kashmir Joint Awami Action Committee (JKJAAC). “It has been brought to the notice of the AJK Private Educational Institutions Registering Authority that certain owners of private schools are not enforcing the officially notified minimum wage
IMAGINE a child happily heading to the park to play ball with friends. A stray dog prowls nearby, foaming at the mouth and ferociously gnawing on a bramble. The canine spots the children and lunges at them. Some run away screaming in terror, while one unlucky child is knocked down and assaulted by the aggressive dog. Park guards throw sticks and stones at the snarling, vicious creature until it is killed, leaving the boy
As Pakistan introduces the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) Vaccine to its routine immunisation programme and is running the first vaccination campaign from September 15 to 27 in Punjab, Sindh, Islamabad and AJK, the media is rife with all kinds of rumours and elaborate conspiracy theories. Summarily, the HPV vaccine is administered to prevent certain types of human papillomavirus (HPV) infection, which can lead to cancers such as cervical, vulvar, vaginal, anal, and head and neck cancers, as well
GUJRAT: A five-year-old student of a religious seminary was tortured to death allegedly by a teacher and his two accomplices at Karariwala Kalan village in Kharian Saddar police precincts on September 26. Shah Zaman Khan of Swat, who currently resides in Amra Kalan village near Dinga town, alleged in his complaint with the police that he had been informed at around 12 on Friday that his minor son Eesa (5) was in a critical
LOWER DIR: A long delay in the reconstruction of eight schools here has left thousands of students without proper learning facilities, complain residents. Information secretary of the Jamaat-i-Islami Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (north) Engineer Hafiz Yaqoobur Rehman told Dawn in Timergara that authorities razed those schools due to dilapidated condition following the 2015 earthquake but didn’t rebuild them despite repeated public demands and protests. He said the educational institutions included Government Higher Secondary School Rabat, Government