LAHORE: The Punjab education authorities have failed to stop the sale of books and uniforms by private schools. According to parents, the beginning of the 2026 academic year in the province has again exposed the failure of regulatory authorities and disregard for court directives by private schools as many institutions are selling textbooks and uniforms directly to parents despite a ban imposed by the education department and courts. With schools reopening across the province,
Child Rights in Focus
BADIN: Residents of a coastal village in Badin district have expressed concern over the closure of a government primary school for the past five years, leaving local children without access to basic education. The Government Primary School located in the village of Sheikh Qarehio Bhandari, the last settlement of Union Council Bhugra Memon in the coastal belt of Badin, remains non-functional. The school building, described by residents as a hut-like structure in a dilapidated
SOUTH WAZIRISTAN: The police have arrested an accused in connection with the assault and murder of a 13-year-old boy in Tanai area of Wana tehsil, Lower South Waziristan, officials confirmed on Sunday. The tragic incident had occurred on March 4 when the deceased, Imran, reportedly went to graze his herd of goats and sheep in the nearby Khowar-i-Khulla Mountain. He did not return home, causing concern among his family and residents, who later launched
GUJRAT: A 16 years old girl was reportedly raped by a man in a private hospital of Mandi Bahauddin Civil Lines Police precincts. The mother of the girl lodged a complaint with the police three days ago that her daughter had gone to a private hospital along with her aunt (sister of complainant) to have some medicine. When the girl went to a hospital washroom and did not return for quite some time, her
ISLAMABAD: Thousands of students across Pakistan are seeking admission to the newly established Islamabad Daanish School, which has received over 7,000 applications against just 210 seats. The state-of-the-art school is all set to start classes from next month. Initially, admissions are being offered only in classes six, seven and eight. Each class will have two sections with a capacity of 35 students each. In response to the admission call, 7,387 students from across Pakistan
PESHAWAR: Human Rights Council of Pakistan, a non-government organisation, on Mar 7 launched the 2025 human rights report, highlighting that a total of 258 rape cases were reported in the province, but only one conviction was recorded, reflecting a conviction rate of around 0.39pc. The report was launched at the Peshawar Press Club on the eve of International Women’s Day, which is observed on March 8. Speaking on the occasion, the council’s provincial president
MUZAFFARGARH: An 11-year-old boy was allegedly tortured to death in Layyah under the pretext of performing rituals. According to police, a murder case has been registered against a couple, Shahbaz Gul and his wife Martha Shahbaz Gul, residents of Alishan Colony, Layyah, were taken into custody following a complaint filed by the victim’s uncle, Ejaz Akhtar of Chak 75 A TDA, Layyah. According to the First Information Report (FIR), the deceased child, identified as
MUZAFFARABAD: Rejecting reports that school textbooks had been changed in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), the region’sTextbook Board on Mar 6 clarified that while it had maintained the prices of textbooks for the primary classes, the prices of textbooks for middle classes had been considerably reduced compared to last year. In a press release, the board reiterated that it served as the regulatory body responsible for textbooks and supplementary learning material for classes one
ANOTHER child has fallen victim to polio, this time in Sindh. The National Institute of Health this week confirmed that a four-year-old from Bello in Sujawal, Sindh, is infected with the wild poliovirus, making this the first case in 2026. The development brings back into the limelight Pakistan’s long fight against the incurable and debilitating disease, which can cause lifelong paralysis and even death. Last year marked a welcome reversal from the worrying surge
A recent federal government report on public financing in education contains embarrassing data on the low bar that we have set for the word ‘educated’, as some 77% of 10-year-olds surveyed across the country could not read or understand a simple text. Put another way, it means at least half of kids in school — all of whom are technically considered literate — can barely get past the nominal definition of literacy, which is being able
ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court has issued notices to the Capital Development Authority and other civic agencies on a petition seeking immediate covering of open and broken manholes across the federal capital. IHC Chief Justice Sardar Mohammad Sarfraz Dogar, heading a single bench, directed the respondents to submit a report and para-wise comments within a fortnight. The direction was issued on a petition filed by Mughal Din, a resident of G-10 Markaz, against the
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s first large scale campaign to vaccinate adolescent girls against human papillomavirus (HPV) reached only slightly more than half of the target population, with an independent post campaign survey estimating coverage at 53.4 per cent and identifying weak awareness, parental refusals and reporting gaps as key factors limiting the campaign’s reach. The HPV vaccination campaign was conducted from September 15 to 27, 2025, targeting girls aged 9 to 14 years in Punjab, Sindh,