KARACHI: Two more patients have tested positive for mpox — one in Karachi and the other in Khairpur — on April 14, raising the provincial tally to 25 with, nine deaths this year. Sources told Dawn that all the cases are being linked to local transmission. According to a statement released by the health department, a total of 122 suspected cases of mpox have been reported in the province this year so far. Of them, 25 patients have
Child Rights in Focus
KHANEWAL: The growing attacks of stray dogs in Khanewal and surrounding areas has left residents alarmed after two children were severely injured in an incident, with one shifted to Multan in critical condition. The incident occurred in Nanakpur village where two boys eight-year-old Abdul Hannan and ten-year-old Shahzaib were on their way to a grocery shop when a pack of stray dogs attacked them in the street, mauling them badly. Both children were rushed
THE Punjab Assembly’s committee approval of the Child Marriage Restraint Bill, 2026, is a welcome and necessary step. By setting 18 as the minimum legal age for marriage for both genders, the province moves to correct a long-standing imbalance and protect children from a practice that has scarred generations. The bill must now be passed by the full assembly before the ordinance lapses. Early marriage is not a harmless custom; it has serious, lasting
ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Health Mustafa Kamal on April 14 said resistance against vaccines could not be mitigated despite spending tens of millions of dollars by Unicef. The minister stated this while chairing a meeting which reviewed the expenditures and measurable impact of the ongoing vaccination awareness campaigns. During a briefing, the minister expressed concern over the limited effectiveness of large-scale investments of millions of dollars made in vaccine awareness initiatives supported by Unicef.
PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi on April 14 reviewed progress on educational reforms, establishment of virtual schools and the introduction of artificial intelligence-based teaching systems across the province. An official handout said that he chaired a meeting of the Elementary and Secondary Education Department. The meeting was briefed on the government initiative to establish Pakistan’s first public sector virtual school and launch an AI Teacher programme as part of a transformative strategy
LAHORE: The Digital Rights Foundation (DRF) has warned of a sharp rise in cyber harassment cases, particularly involving minors, alongside persistent barriers to justice. It released its 2025 annual report on its digital security helpline and highlighted growing online safety risks across the country. According to the report, the helpline received 3,012 complaints in 2025, besides 776 follow-ups, averaging around 250 cases per month. Of these, 2,586 were related to cyber harassment, bringing the
A high-level meeting co-chaired by Sindh Minister for Education Syed Sardar Ali Shah and the minister for irrigation, planning & development agreed to develop a five-year multi-sectoral roadmap to bring out-of-school children into the education system. Officials said the meeting was attended by Chairman Planning & Development Najam Shah, Secretary School Education Zahid Ali Abbasi, Parliamentary Secretary for Planning & Development Saadia Javed, along with other officials. UNICEF Chief Prem Bahadur Chand and Education
Yesterday, the government initiated a nationwide polio vaccination campaign, aiming to reach over 45 million children under the age of five. Such drives are meant to signal resolve, yet this one has begun under the shadow of violence, with the martyrdom of a police officer in Hangu, K-P, exposing once again the fragility of security arrangements surrounding one of the country’s most critical public health efforts. The scale of the campaign is formidable, extending
Poverty, food insecurity, gender inequality, and funding – all of these reasons have been used by the government on various occasions to explain why there are 26.2 million children aged 5-16 out of school. A country that has the world’s second-highest number of out-of-school children is apparently so steeped in economic challenges that it has been unable to substantially rectify its education crisis for decades, all while the prime minister is busy promoting a
A digital transformation has been introduced to the quiet, bustling homes everywhere, replacing the sounds of children playing on the streets. If you visit a typical household today, it is likely to observe a child bent over a phone with headphones in, completely lost in a digital world. At times, they are watching videos, at times, gaming, or just scrolling endlessly, or you’ll find a toddler captivated by a rhythmic Coco melon rhyme while
Child labour in Pakistan remains a structurally embedded challenge, especially within the private sector where informal, home-based, and subcontracted production systems dominate. Despite constitutional protections, significant implementation gaps and weak enforcement continue to undermine prevention and monitoring, particularly in sectors like agriculture, brick kilns, and domestic work. This issue is driven primarily by poverty, household vulnerability, and barriers to education, which are reinforced by fragmented legal frameworks and weak alignment between labour and education
ISLAMABAD: In a revelation that underscores a massive gap between legislative intent and ground reality, it has emerged that private educational institutions (PEIs) in the federal capital are allegedly pocketing between Rs5 billion and Rs6 billion annually by failing to implement a mandatory 10 per cent scholarship quota for deserving students. The controversy surfaced before the Islamabad High Court (IHC) during the proceedings of a writ petition filed against fee structures of private schools.