Police have arrested the principal of a private school in Orangi Town for allegedly attempting to sexually assault a matriculation student and beating her when she resisted. According to details, the incident occurred within the jurisdiction of Iqbal Market Police Station. The principal allegedly took the student into his office, made inappropriate advances, and attempted to assault her. When the student resisted, the principal reportedly subjected her to physical violence. The victim informed her
Child Rights in Focus
Three arrested for raping minor in Lahore
June 12, 2024
Lahore : Three suspects have been arrested by Johar Town police for allegedly raping a minor. Reportedly, the suspects approached the victim outside his residence. They asked him to come out and started torturing him. Later they force-fully took him to their residence and raped him. The suspects have been identified as Umar Kamal, Raza Mustafa and Habib Khan. SHO Johar Town stated that a case has been registered against them and police have
KHYBER: The deplorable condition of most of the public sector primary schools for girls, shortage of teaching staff and inaccessibility of students to educational institutions beyond primary level have been cited to be three major hurdles to promotion of female education in the militancy-affected Bara tehsil of Khyber tribal district. According to statistics of education department, 26 out of the total 30 completely damaged girls schools are in the process of rebuilding with the
Ensuring Every Child’s Right to Play
June 11, 2024
IN March this year, the UN General Assembly declared that the International Day of Play would be observed annually on June 11. This announcement has come after a long advocacy campaign led by Unicef, global civil society, and organisations such as Right To Play. So, today the world is celebrating its inaugural Day of Play with the object of encouraging more conscious efforts to ensure that children across the world can exercise their right
Pakistan Economic Survey 2023-24
June 11, 2024
The Pakistan Economic Survey is an annual publication by the Ministry of Finance that offers a comprehensive review of the country’s economic performance over the past fiscal year. It covers a wide range of topics, including GDP growth, sectoral contributions, fiscal and monetary developments, trade and balance of payments, and investment trends. In addition to these core economic indicators, the survey also addresses critical social aspects such as education, health and nutrition, the labour
Focus should be on differently-abled children’s growth
June 10, 2024
ISLAMABAD: Chairperson of the National Commission on the Status of Women (NCSW) Nilofar Bakhtiar on 8 June 2024 emphasised the need for focusing on the growth of differently-abled children, transgender children, and rehabilitation of children from sexual abuse. She was chairing the first meeting of the Steering Committee on the `Art of Parenting` initiative. The meeting was participated by partner organisations including the Aga Khan Development Network, the National Institute of Psychology from Quaid-i
Minors for sale
June 10, 2024
THE curse of human trade has a doubly odious form child trafficking. Pakistan, too, is haunted by this ugly reality: its minors, boys and girls, have often been treated as commodities in this repellant business. It is in this context that the recent arrest of rights activist Sarim Burney on a `human trafficking complaint` by US authorities, and his two-day physical remand to FIA custody for an investigation into `child trafficking by way of
NAT Findings Report 2023
June 9, 2024
“NAT Findings Report 2023” takes in account representative random sample of 1,304 public schools who took the 2023 National Assessment Test (NAT) which was administered to over 23,000 Grade 4 and Grade 8 students across Pakistan. It assessed students on foundational literacy, English, Urdu, Sindhi, math, and science using scientifically developed multiple choice tests. On average, students scored highest in Grade 4 foundational literacy and Urdu/Sindhi, while performance was lowest in Grade 4 math,
Seminary teacher held for rape of two minor boys
June 9, 2024
MUZAFFARGARH: Police arrested on 7 June 2024 a seminary teacher for allegedly raping his two minor students students and threatening them with torture if they disclosed the assault. As per Daira Din Pannah police, the complainant, Jalal Din, said in his application that his son and a nephew, aged between 10-12 years, had been studying at Madressah Yaseen at Chak No 143/ ML for a couple of months. He said the boys told him
Children’s mortality rate in Sindh
June 9, 2024
ISLAMABAD: Mortality rates associated with critical illness in children at Sindh government hospitals stand at 1.2pc, compared to the average of 6.3pc across 46 sites in 19 low-income countries, the latest research conducted by a US-based global health network regarding quality of paediatric emergency rooms (ERs) reveals. The one-year point prevalence study by PALISI Global Health, which was founded in 2002 with an aim to foster research to optimise the care of critically ill
Alarm over surveillance of girls in private spaces
June 9, 2024
ISLAMABAD: The Digital Rights Foundation (DRF) has expressed concerns over the on going surveillance of women and girls in private spaces through unregulated CCTV cameras in women`s shelters, hostels, universities, and salons, invading their right to privacy and dignity in private spaces. According to the 2023 Gender Gap report, Pakistan ranks 142 out of 146 countries in terms of gender parity, including economic participation and opportunity, educational attainment, health and survival, and political empowerment.
KARACHI: Pakistan has the world’s second highest number of out-of-school children whose numbers have grown dramatically since 2021. Deprived of life’s basic necessities, these children are more vulnerable to stress, trauma, and social isolation, leading to anxiety, depression and other mental health issues, shared an expert on the second day of a conference held on Friday. The conference titled `Healthy Futures: Preventing Non Communicable Diseases (NCDs) in Young Hearts and Minds` is organised by