LAHORE: The Punjab government’s efforts to eradicate polio have achieved a significant milestone, as all environmental samples collected throughout the province during March—including samples from Lahore, Rawalpindi, and South Punjab—have tested negative for the virus. This development was highlighted during a meeting of the Provincial Task Force for Polio Eradication at the Civil Secretariat, where health officials and administrative leaders gathered to finalise a new roadmap for maintaining a virus-free environment. Provincial Health Minister
Child Rights in Focus
JAVED is enrolled in Grade 6 in a government school in his village. Akhtar, Javed’s father, is wondering whether or not he should pull Javed out of school. Akhtar feels Javed is not learning much at school, and that if he is put to work at the nearby auto-repair workshop he will not only earn a little, but would also be learning a skill. Though there is no fee in the government school, there
LAKKI MARWAT: A child protection court sentenced a rape convict to life imprisonment on two terms and 23-year rigorous imprisonment along with a fine of Rs1.2 million. The verdict was pronounced by the additional sessions judge-II Lakki Marwat, who was also the presiding officer of the Child Protection Court. A police official said that the accused, Irfanullah alias Paan, a coach driver, had kidnapped and raped a 13-year-old girl in the Mughal Manjiwala area
KARACHI: A teenage boy took his life after being scolded by his father for failing in the school annual examination, police said on April 9. Airport SHO Kaleem Khan Moosa said Turab Haider, 16, a student at a private school, had failed in the exams and his father, a serving police sub-inspector, scolded him. The teenager became upset and hanged himself inside their residence in Police Lines at the Airport police station. The body
The education sector in Pakistan is notable for its overreliance on archaic methods of teaching, especially the technique of rote memorisation which has produced countless mnemonists but not many thinkers. Students are encouraged to fill in pages upon pages of information without meaningful assessments to back up their comprehension, and anyone who learns differently simply falls behind. This traditional mode of teaching is finally being challenged by the federal government, which is touting an
MUZAFFARABAD: The Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) government on April 9 introduced a comprehensive child protection policy for seminaries, making the installation of CCTV cameras, complaint mechanisms, and teacher certification mandatory across the state. The policy, announced by Minister for Religious Affairs, Auqaf and Information Chaudhry Muhammad Rafique Nayyar, follows directives issued by Prime Minister Faisal Mumtaz Rathore in the wake of growing concerns over child safety in religious institutions. Under the new framework,
ISLAMABAD: The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the federal cabinet has approved a summary submitted by the Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations & Coordination for a Technical Supplementary Grant (TSG) amounting to Rs2.8 billion in favour of the Federal Directorate of Immunization (FDI). The committee was informed that the FDI remained a key national programme aimed at immunizing over eight million children against vaccine-preventable diseases, and that the grant would support continued pooled
ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Education and Professional Training, Dr Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui, on April 8, said quality education and positive nurturing during early years play a fundamental role in shaping children’s personalities, cognitive development and future success. Speaking at the closing ceremony of the 5th International Conference on “Early Childhood Development” held at Allama Iqbal Open University (AIOU), the minister said that early childhood education and upbringing form the foundation of national development. He
MUZAFFARABAD: The alleged sexual assault and death of a young seminary student in Kotli district of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) has exposed serious gaps in oversight and child protection mechanisms in religious institutions in the region, with police acknowledging that similar incidents often go unreported or fail to reach a logical conclusion. The incident, which occurred on the afternoon of April 5 during an outing to the Poonch River, involved three teenage students
BAHAWALNAGAR: South Punjab health director general has directed the district health authority (DHA) to conduct a probe into an alleged incident reported in a social media post by the family of a toddler bitten by stray dogs, alleging they were forced to buy anti-rabies vaccine (ARV) from the market at an exorbitant price after being denied the same by the staff at the district headquarters (DHQ) hospital. According to the social media post, two-year-old
SWABI: A teenage boy was allegedly assaulted by a teacher at a seminary, prompting the police to arrest the accused here on April 8. Tordher police station SHO Ajab Durrani said the accused teacher, Mohammad Amanllah, a resident of Muzaffargarh, was presently residing in Guldher area. He said the accused called the boy, 14, to his room on the pretext of some urgent work and assaulted him. Taking immediate notice of the incident, the
THERE is one question that has been bothering me these days: what message are we sending to our children when their education is the first thing we suspend in times of crisis? We are a country with 26.2 million children out of school, according to data collected in 2021–22 by the Pakistan Institute of Education. In contrast, about 54.7m children are enrolled in schools, with 56.2pc in public institutions and 43.8pc in private schools