LAHORE: The Punjab Labour Code 2024 has sparked widespread opposition from almost all major labour organizations in the province, which think that the new regulations would violate workers’ rights. The labour groups term the code a move that undermines job security, legalises exploitative labour practices, and imposes restrictions on unions. They vow to launch a resistance movement if the government tries to implement the code unilaterally. The Punjab Labour Code 2024 was introduced as
Child Rights in Focus
ISLAMABAD: The Aga Khan Foundation (AKF) has announced the launch of a new $7.2 million nutrition and immunisation programme in Pakistan. This initiative aims to support one million mothers and children in the most marginalised areas across the four provinces. The programme is being implemented in partnership with federal and provincial governments, Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, and The Power of Nutrition (TPoN). According to a statement, Pakistan faces significant challenges in child health, including
PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa health department has screened over 15,000 passengers for mpox at Peshawar airport and Torkham border but didn’t detect any symptoms of the viral infection, officials said on August 19. They also revealed that the National Institute of Health (NIH) in Islamabad had found the strain in the recently confirmed mpox case from Mardan district to be clade 2B of the virus. Officials told a meeting of the provincial Outbreak and Response Committee
QUETTA: After almost a dozen cases of poliovirus in Balochistan since January, an emergency meeting was held in Quetta on 18 August, attended by the deputy commissioners of all 35 districts of the province. The meeting was held to prepare a strategy for the fight against the polio virus, which has crippled 14 children in the country so far. Balochistan remained an epicenter of the disease, with 11 cases reported from seven districts — Dera Bugti,
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on 20th August said that the government had established the Pakistan Education Endowment Fund to support children from low-income families to obtain higher education. The announcement comes months after PM Shehbaz declared an education emergency in the country and vowed to get around 26 million out-of-school children enrolled. According to Abdullah A. Fadil, the representative for United Nations Children’s Funds (Unicef) in Pakistan, over 70 percent of children aged 10 in Pakistan could not read
GUJAR KHAN: Jhelum police have solved the blind murder of a six-year-old boy by arresting his 13-year-old relative. Abdul Jabbar, a resident of Kotha Purana area, told Kala Gujaran police on August 6 that the body of his son, Usman, with his throat slit was found under a tree near his residence. After extensive investigations, police succeeded in arresting the suspect, identified as Abdullah, 13, a close relative of the victim. Talking to Dawn,
RAHIM YAR KHAN: The Punjab School Education Department (SED) has decided to privatise government schools under a public-private partnership model in the coming months and Rahim Yar Khan will be the most affected district with the private sector taking over the maximum number of schools — 1,000 out of 2,777 — among all districts of the province. Initially, as many as 13,000 out of 49,000 schools across Punjab will be handed over to the
As the climate crisis continues to escalate, the pressure to implement sectoral policies will also increase. It is often said that climate change is multi-sectoral therefore making it difficult to implement policies after the 18th Amendment. However, beyond that, no mention is made of how to bridge the gap between policy and implementation, affix responsibility, monitor progress, and make systemic functions robust and accountable. It has become common practice to identify problems and attribute
The prevalence of child marriages in certain parts of Pakistan, as exemplified by the recent reports of 45 underage girls being married off in Khan Muhammad Mallah village of Dadu in Sindh province, is utterly unacceptable. The directive issued by Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah to launch a thorough investigation into these incidents is a commendable move, but it’s crucial for the authorities to take decisive action to address this deeply troubling issue. The
LAHORE: The Punjab School Education Department on Saturday announced the ‘Back to School Campaign’, aiming at enrolling 500,000 children under the ‘Parho or Jagmagao’ slogan. Punjab Minister for School Education Rana Sikandar Hayat chaired a review meeting on the campaign. He emphasised the need to execute the campaign with full vigour, saying that dropout rate after the holidays should be minimised, ideally reduced to zero. The minister directed that the community be engaged through
ISLAMABAD: A parliamentary panel on Friday stressed the need for modern educational facilities in the rural areas of the federal capital. The National Assembly Standing Committee on Federal Education and Professional Training at a meeting chaired by Dr Azimuddin Zahid Lakhvi discussed various agenda items, including the ongoing face-lifting and overhauling projects of schools and colleges. “The committee members also noted that the schools in peripheral areas of Islamabad are deprived of the facilities
The Sindh government, in a move to strengthen the education system in the province, has set a target of 0.8 million new students in government schools. Moreover, Minister for Education and Mines & Minerals Development Syed Sardar Ali Shah has stated that the monitoring system regarding teacher attendance in Sindh is being made more effective. He warned that strict action will be taken against teachers who are absent and do not teach students. The