Lack of a chairman at BIEK stalls exam planning and grace marks notification KARACHI: The future of thousands of students in Karachi hangs in the balance due to the delay in issuing a notification regarding grace marks for students who failed in the HSC first-year exams. Approximately 100,000 students preparing for their intermediate examinations under the Board of Intermediate Education Karachi (BIEK) remain unaware of the final exam schedule and their centre details. Despite
Child Rights in Focus
Govt teachers rely on donations for fans, coolers amid funding shortages RAWALPINDI: As temperatures soar across the region, government schools in Rawalpindi’s rural areas are grappling with a severe shortage of funds, forcing teachers to turn to local philanthropists, shopkeepers, and residents for help in providing relief from the heat. According to sources in the Education Department, many government schools in the district’s rural tehsils lack functional fans either they are completely missing or
SSDO report shows 7,608 cases in 2024, conviction rates below 1% for most offences ISLAMABAD: Pakistan is witnessing a harrowing rise in violence against children, with 7,608 cases reported across the country so far in 2024 – an average of 21 incidents per day, according to a new report by the Sustainable Social Development Organisation (SSDO). The report highlights a deep-rooted child protection crisis and exposes critical failures in the legal system, with conviction
ISLAMABAD: Despite limited progress overall, some regions of the country did show significant gains in reducing childhood stunting between 2011 and 2018, two major national and global studies published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition have revealed. In parts of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces, stunting rates declined at an average rate of 1.6 percent per annum. Despite its fragile socio-economic indicators, the country showed modest gains in linear growth among children under
ISLAMABAD: The Ministry of National Health Services, Regulation and Coordination (NHSR&C) reported to the National Assembly that from 2018 to 2024, the average number of children vaccinated with the polio vaccine in the nationwide campaigns annually has ranged from 39.3 million to 44.9 million. In a reply to a question from Asiya Naz Tanoli, the Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination said to achieve herd immunity against the poliovirus, children under the
KARACHI: The Sindh cabinet on Tuesday ordered a high-level inquiry into irregularities in all educational boards across the province and allowed extra marks to thousands of students who had appeared in first year exam conducted by the Board of Intermediate Education Karachi (BIEK) last year. The cabinet meeting, chaired by Sindh CM, expressed displeasure over the performance of educational boards in the province and directed the chief secretary to constitute a committee comprising upright officers to
In a tragic incident in Qila Sahib Singh, a suburban area of Punjab’s Hafizabad district, three children lost their lives while five others are reported to be in critical condition after having “poisonous” sweets, according to the first information report filed by police. According to the FIR, “all eight children fell seriously ill after consuming the poisonous sweets and were immediately taken to the District Headquarters Hospital in Hafizabad on Monday evening.” A statement
A 17-year-old girl died by suicide after she was allegedly raped and impregnated in Punjab’s Muzaffargarh, police said on April 13. According to a first information report (FIR) dated April 12, a copy of which is available with Dawn.com, the girl had informed her father and elder sister that her uncle and cousin raped her two months ago after which she became pregnant. Her body was found at around 4pm, the victim’s father said in
In this thought-provoking video, Harris Khalique shares a powerful message on Pakistan’s identity, its post-colonial legacy, and the urgent need for a transformative approach to education—one that values not only economic progress but also the richness of arts and culture. Watch as he highlights why true development must begin in the classroom.
Children given in the custody of childless couples are vulnerable to mistreatment LAHORE. Till date, Pakistan has not been able to devise formal legislation on the practice of child adoption, despite the fact that a significant number of married couples are given temporary custody of abandoned children each year. As a result, no effective monitoring system exists to prevent the mistreatment of adopted children, who are orphaned twice in the face of unreported exploitation,
Case was initially reported as a suicide; postmortem, forensics proved otherwise KARACHI: The Civil Lines police have arrested a woman for allegedly murdering her 15-year-old daughter in what was initially reported as a suicide case. According to SHO Muhammad Khan, on April 5, police received reports of a suspected suicide at a residence near Street No 12 in Hijrat Colony’s D-2 Area. The deceased, identified as Erum, was initially believed to have taken her
KARACHI: Federal Health Minister Syed Mustafa Kamal said on 13-April-2025 that there is no valid justification to refuse polio drops to eligible children in Pakistan, especially when the Taliban regime in neighbouring Afghanistan is supervising a door-to-door anti-polio immunisation drive. The minister disclosed that 85,000 people in Pakistan refused polio vaccination for their children, including 34,000 in Karachi. Of these, 27,000 refusals were reported in Karachi’s District East alone. He was talking to media