LAHORE: Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz’s ‘School meal program’ has helped reduce malnutrition among students. In its first phase, the program saved Rs1.780 billion while impacting the health and well-being of thousands of children. The program has also witnessed remarkable success in boosting school enrolment. Within months of its initiation, over 55,000 new students enrolled in schools, demonstrating the program’s positive effect on student attendance and engagement. In addition, the initiative provided 40 million
Child Rights in Focus
ISLAMABAD: Prolonged exposure to high temperatures and extreme precipitation for the last one and a half decades is worsening malnutrition among children under the age of two in Pakistan, leading to increased stunting and wasting, a recent study revealed. Published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, the research highlights that each one-degree Celsius rise is linked to a significant decline in a child’s length-for-age z-score (LAZ). Increased precipitation also negatively impacted growth indicators,
PESHAWAR: Badhber police arrested a cleric on charges of assaulting two minors in Telaband area on the outskirts of the provincial capital on 12th March. Father of one of the minors told Badhber police that his nine-year-old daughter and 11-year-old nephew were enrolled in a seminary in Telaband area. He got registered an FIR, stating that on March 3, the children informed them that the prayer leader had assaulted them multiple times four days
LAHORE: The Punjab government claimed on 12th March to have increased enrollment in public schools from 242,000 to 368,000 and number of teachers from 8,037 to 15,114 across the province under Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz’s Public School Organisation Programme. According to a news release, the programme is going on successfully as better-educated youth are in the management of the public schools. School Education Department (SED) authorities briefed the chief minister in a meeting and
LAHORE: Taking cognizance of rising incidents of child abuse in recent months, the Punjab home department has written a letter to the school education department (SED) urging it to educate school children about personal safety. In a letter addressed to the SED secretary, the home department has requested that the department might take measures to raise awareness about “Good Touch and Bad Touch” by equipping them with the knowledge to recognise and report inappropriate
ISLAMABAD: Special Education Director General Asif Iqbal Bhatti on 12th March said that the National Library and Resource Centre will be turned into a hub of learning activities for special persons. He said that the facility would be equipped with Braille-based devices, Chrome books and other latest IT accessibility tools. Mr Bhatti said this while speaking at an event organised by the Directorate General of Special Education in collaboration with Allah Wala Trust at
KARACHI: The Sindh government has launched the “country’s first-ever” program to support the education of children of convicted prisoners. The launch ceremony was held at the Karachi central prison and attended by Education Minister Sardar Ali Shah and Prisons Minister Hasan Ali Zardari. This program is a joint initiative of the education and prisons departments and Paigham-e-Pakistan under which children of 4,684 convicted inmates across Sindh will receive educational support from primary to university
A judicial magistrate on 12-March-2025 remanded a suspect in the Federal Investigation Agency’s custody for five days in a case pertaining to child phonography and misuse of “personal/objectionable” data of minor US citizens for extortion. Investigation Officer Ameer Ali Khoso presented the suspect before Judicial Magistrate (East) Yusra Ashfaq and requested his physical remand for interrogation. He stated that the suspect was involved in child pornography and misuse of personal / objectionable data of
The Sindh government has launched Pakistan’s first-ever programme to support the education of children of convicted prisoners. The launch ceremony was held at the Central Jail Karachi. Over 10,000 children of inmates will be supported in their education from primary school to university. This initiative is a joint effort of the Sindh Education Department, the Sindh Prisons Department, and Paigham-e-Pakistan. Under the programme, children of 4,684 convicted inmates in Sindh’s jails will receive educational
The primary contributors to Pakistan’s pollution crisis are industrial emissions. Pakistan has long decried how it is among the countries worst affected by climate change. Even though it is a minor contributor to global pollution, a new study has found that in at least one pollution category, Pakistan is a world leader. Residents of cities such as Lahore, Peshawar, Faisalabad and Quetta will be completely unsurprised by the fact that Pakistan ranked third-worst in
ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Health Syed Mustafa Kamal on 12th March announced that polio eradication would be considered as a national responsibility and vowed to take all possible steps during his tenure to make the country free of the virus. He expressed these views during a visit to the National Emergency Operations Centre (NEOC) for Polio where he chaired a meeting to review the government efforts for polio eradication. While briefing him on the current status
