Communication is a big part of being human, starting from gestures to the many languages we use today. Over time, we got better at communicating with graphics, alphabets and modern electronic media. However, Pakistan recently faced a challenge – not having enough qualified professionals in Speech Language Pathology (SLP). Out of 240 million people, over 22 million suffer from speech, language, swallowing or hearing disorders. This scarcity accentuates the urgent necessity to tackle communication
Child Rights in Focus
The Non-Formal Education Statistics Report 2021-22 is a report jointly organized by Pakistan Institute for Education-PIE, Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training & JICA-AQAL Project to present a clear picture of statistics to all stakeholders, including lawmakers, policymakers, educationists, and researchers. The report includes the following statistics: 81% of students registered in NFE are registered with government NFE organizations, while the remaining 19% are registered with private or development sector organizations 36% of
ISLAMABAD: Education Minister Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui said on 17 April that the ministry was working on a programme to declare an education emergency in the country to tackle the issue of out of school children (OOSC). He stated this while talking to British High Commissioner to Pakistan Jane Marriott, who called on him at the ministry. The meeting was attended by Country Director British Council James Hampson and Secretary Education Mohyuddin Wani. The minister
SEHAT Sahulat is a great programme but universal health coverage has a much larger vision. Sehat Sahulat is a state-financed health insurance system for the curative care of hospitalised patients, whereas UHC means healthcare for all. After the universalisation of the Sehat Sahulat programme in the federal areas, KP and Punjab, the term `universal health insurance` is increasingly being used in policy discussions. Many senior policymakers bureaucrats and politicians continue to equate UHI with
DADU: Police have arrested 15-year-old murder suspect, who confessed to strangling an eight-year-old girl to death in Kotri on April 8 and said he had been jobless for a long time and hungry for three days when he tried to snatch gold earrings from the girl and killed her when she threatened to tell on him. Jamshoro SSP Tariq Nawaz told a press conference at his office on 18 April 2024 that the suspect
Many children have been affected by measles in the Swabi district and locals have demanded of health department to take prompt measures to control ‘outbreak’ of the disease according to Dawn news. Nizar Khan, a resident of Lalbeg village, told Dawn that his two daughters were suffering from measles and many children in his neighbourhood were also affected by the disease. He said two daughters of his brother Fazl Mohammad were also suffering from
LAHORE: In response to the pressing need for accessible and high-quality emergency healthcare for children in Pakistan, an organisation has introduced an innovative telemedicine network in district and tehsil hospitals of Punjab, providing critical consultations to children in remote areas. The initiative aims to address the alarming child mortality rates in the country, with 1,000 children losing their lives daily due to various illnesses. The experts say with two-thirds of Pakistan’s population residing in
IT was on Ashura, Aug 19, 2021, when nine year-old Priya Kumari went missing. Just before her disappearance or abduction she had been happily helping her father a syncretic Hindu who runs a sabeel every year in Muharram in Sangrar, a small town near Sukkur serve sherbet to thirsty mourners. It is a curious case. For one, she `disappeared` from a place that was thronged with hundreds of people, and yet, reportedly, the police
This document by UNICEF provides a comprehensive analysis of the current state of child poverty in Pakistan, focusing on the factors contributing to this issue and the implications for child well-being. It highlights the lack of access to basic services such as education, healthcare, and sanitation as key drivers of child poverty in the country. The note also discusses the impact of poverty on children’s development, emphasizing the need for targeted interventions to address the
NCRC is strongly advocating to raise the minimum marriageable age for girls to 18 years! The Commission has taken proactive steps by writing to provincial human rights and law departments in Punjab, Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and ICT urging them to support this amendment and promptly present before the legislative assembly so that it can be passed and incorporated into the relevant law. Child marriage is a violation of children’s rights, robbing them of their
KARACHI: The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has blocked more than 1.25 million URLs over objectionable content, the telecom sector regulator told the Sindh High Court on 16 April 2024. The authority submitted its reply to a petition filed against `objectionable, unethical, immoral and unlawful` content being uploaded on social media platforms. The regulator told the SHC that out of the 1,253,522 blocked URLs, 988,659 were banned for indecent and immoral content, 90,980 for content
ISLAMABAD: The Ministry of Federal Education on 17 April 2024 directed the Federal Directorate of Education (FDE) to make cleanliness drive in schools and colleges a regular feature and ensure availability of cleanliness equipment in institutions as well. ‘If we cannot keep our schools clean how can we keep our communities clean’. We should treat our schools like our homes. Cleanliness is part of our hygiene,` said a brief statement issued by the education