LAHORE: School students across Punjab elected their 61,212 Student Council office-bearers on 16 May 2024. Around 3.47 million students cast their votes to elect respective presidents, vice-presidents, general secretaries and class representatives in 15,303 middle and high schools, both for boys and girls. Long queues of students were observed outside polling booths since early morning. Students were excited about casting votes in a rare experience in their lives. Results were later announced in front
Child Rights in Focus
RAWALPINDI: The All Pakistan Private Schools Management Association (APPSMA) has called for ‘social welfare recognition’ for educational institutions charging fees below Rs5,000 per month. The demand, among others, echoed strongly during a recent meeting of the APPSMA. Emphasising the need to address the educational emergency, leaders from APPSMA advocated for specific measures to facilitate access to education and combat societal challenges affecting students. Association leaders put forward a proposal for the allocation of funds
ISLAMABAD: After declaring an education emergency in the country last week, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on 16 May 2024 set targets for stakeholders and gave them a road map to achieve the desired results. In a major decision, he also ordered the setting up of a five-year Rs25 billion out-of-school-children fund. `Out of School Children Fund, earmarking minimum Rs25 billion for five years shall be established to support innovative and effective strategies aiming to
LAHORE: The Punjab government has instructed the inspector general of prisons to implement the revised standard operating procedures (SOPs) for the operation of borstal institutions to ensure that the juvenile prisoners be treated in line with the international best practices. The SOPs shared by the Punjab Home Department to the IG Prisons stress that the overall environment of borstal institutions shall be different from ordinary prisons. Borstal Institutions, to as maximum extent as possible,
RAWALPINDI: Participants at an awareness-raising session on 16 May 2024 unanimously supported amendment to the law to raise the minimum age of marriage for girls in Punjab to 18. The session was organised by Promoting Human Rights in Rural Areas (PODA) at the Sardar Ishaq Khan Hall of Rawalpindi District Bar Association. PODA is implementing a three year project titled `Reduce Early Marriages to Enhance Gender Equality’ in 41 districts of the Punjab province,
MITHI: As many as 80 girls were gifted bicycles at Government High School Malanhore Veena on 15 May 2024 under “Pedaling Towards Education” project. The bicycles were handed over at a ceremony organised by the Thar Education Alliance in collaboration with Indigo Textile, UNDP (SDG Unit), and district education department of Tharparkar. The project was aimed at addressing transportation challenges faced by girls, which often hindered their attendance in schools. Acknowledgement: Published in Dawn
OKARA: City B division and Gogera police have registered two separate cases against members of a gang allegedly involved in trapping and blackmailing young boys through social media platforms and forcing them to develop sexual relations with them, arresting its `ringleader`. As per police sources, in the first case the complainant Asad Ali`s orphaned nephew, a 9th class student, was befriended by a ‘girl’, introducing herself as Aysha, on a social media platform, some
In the educational trinity — teachers, parents and students — which regulates parents-teachers meetings (PTMs), the second is parents (first one discussed in the previous article) who, as per the issues discussed and the level of their engagement in these PTMs, can be grouped into four broader categories. First is the concerned parents (CPs) who keep an eye on the progress of their children in studies. They get their presence recorded through active involvement
SWAT: A 70-year-old man married a 13-year-old girl in Nagoha area of Barikot Tehsil in Swat district, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. He has eight children and several grandchildren. The girl, a student of grade six, informs Voicepk that she found out about her marriage to the old man on her way back from school. “When I reached home, my family told me to dress up as I had an event to attend.” She adds, “I don’t
LAHORE: The Lahore High Court has taken notice of non implementation of its guidelines to curb child marriage by the nikah/marriage registrars. Justice Anwarul Haq Pannun observed that apparently, the marriage registrars, without relying upon any document, mention the age of the bride as 18 years or above in clear violation of the law. In a verdict issued on a habeas corpus petition by a woman seeking recovery of her underage daughter from the
LAHORE: The Punjab government will provide eyeglasses and hearing aids to 700,000 students having weak eyesight or hearing disability in the province. `The students in the schools across Punjab will be subjected to medical check-up of their eyesight and hearing abilities. Those students having weak eyesight and hearing disabilities will be provided with spectacles and hearing aids. The screening process in the government and private schools across Punjab will be launched soon,` Chief Minister
The report “A Compilation of Food and Nutrition Laws in Pakistan” is a comprehensive compilation of federal and provincial laws in Pakistan related to food and nutrition to raise awareness among the general public about these laws and their implications. The report includes a wide range of laws, regulations, and ordinances at both the federal and provincial levels. It covers key laws pertaining to food safety, standards, licensing and control of various foods including