Last week, Pakistan’s polio tally for 2025 went up to 30. The latest case was recorded in district Torghar in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where over half (19) of this year’s polio cases have come from. While the tally for this year is still much lower than the 74 cases recorded last year, it is five times higher than the 2023 total and a third higher than the 2022 total. As such, the country’s polio ordeal
Child Rights in Focus
PESHAWAR: A policy dialogue held here on October 26 underlined the importance of multilingualism in improving learning outcomes and promoting inclusive education in the country. The event was jointly organised by Durbeen, a Karachi-based NGO, the University of Oxford and Institute of Education and Research, University of Peshawar as part of a research initiative – Data and Research in Education-Research Consortium (DARE-RC). Led by Dr Fauzia Shamim from Durbeen and Dr Aliya Khalid from
The Sindh Education and Literacy Department has decided to conduct a complete audit of records, related to the implementation of the 10 per cent freeship policy, in all private schools across the province. This decision has been made in accordance with the Sindh High Court (SHC), Sukkur Bench, judgment issued on October 9, 2025, on a Constitutional Petition No 1592/2025. The 10% freeship policy requires all private schools in Sindh to offer free education
The Sindh Child Labour Survey 2022–23, based on data from nearly 57,000 households across 29 districts, provides a detailed view of children’s living conditions, schooling, and work. It finds that only two-thirds of children aged 5–17 attend school, with significant gender and rural–urban gaps. Around 12% of children are engaged in work and 10% in child labour, most commonly in agriculture, with boys more likely to work than girls. Child labour is strongly linked
LAHORE: Amid the worsening smog in Punjab, the provincial government on Sunday revised the school timings, with schools set to begin daily sessions from 8:45am. The Punjab School Education Department notified the revised timings just hours after Education Minister Rana Sikandar Hayat confirmed the same on his X account. As per the revised schedule, schools will conduct classes from 8:45am to 1:30pm from Monday to Thursday, while on Friday, schools will close at 12:30pm.
• Case linked to multimillion-rupee naval farms land scam • Plea alleges officials implicated woman in criminal case ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court has ordered the constitution of a joint investigation team (JIT) to investigate into the alleged abduction of a woman and her three minor children, an episode now linked to a multimillion-rupee Naval Farms land scam recently unearthed by a joint enquiry committee (JEC). Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani of the IHC issued
SUKKUR: Three suspects were arrested hours after they allegedly killed their two close relatives over a matrimonial issue and kidnapped a 10-year-old girl in the old area of Kashmore on the night of October 24. Two other relatives were wounded in the shooting. The arrested suspects were identified as Sadhoro, Shahid and Noor Hassan Chachar. SHO Safeer Jagirani told the media that the suspect shot dead their close relatives (uncle) Mashooq Chachar and Riaz
PESHAWAR: Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chief Secretary, Shahab Ali Shah, chaired a meeting to review the proposed School Meal Program aimed at improving enrollment and retention in primary schools across the province. The meeting was attended by the Secretaries of Elementary and Secondary Education and Finance. A detailed presentation, supported by data from the Allah Walay Trust, highlighted the program’s benefits for children’s education and health. The initiative envisions preparing meals in a central kitchen and distributing
DERA ISMAIL KHAN: Unknown assailants on October 24 blew up an under-construction girls primary school with explosives in the suburban village of Gara Budha in Tank district. A police official said that the building, which was in its final stages of completion, sustained severe damage after explosive material, planted under its boundary wall and several classrooms, went off. According to police officials, the bomb disposal unit inspected the site and collected preliminary evidence. Authorities
LAHORE: Participants in a seminar on the importance of breastfeeding termed mother’s milk highly beneficial for the mental and physical health of infants and called for raising awareness about its importance. Punjab University’s Department of Public Health in collaboration with Unicef held an awareness seminar on breastfeeding on October 24. Punjab University Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Muhammad Ali Shah, Department of Public Health In-charge Dr Nauman Ali, Prof Dr Rubina Zakir, Bahauddin Zakariya University
• 65pc forced to work in agri sector, 12.4pc in manufacturing and 10.8pc in wholesale/retail trade • Sindh Child Labour Survey 2023-24 launched KARACHI: As many as 1.3 million children aged between five and 17 are trapped in child labour in Sindh, with 65 percent of them forced to work in the agriculture sector, said the Sindh Child Labour Survey 2023-24. The survey was officially launched on October 24 by the Labor Department in
KARACHI: Seven policemen were suspended after a “teenage boy” died under controversial circumstances in the custody of the Special Investigation Unit (SIU) of police, it emerged on Friday. While the police claimed that Muhammad Irfan died of heart attack, his relatives alleged that he was tortured to death. Police surgeon Dr Summaiya Syed told Dawn that the body of a man, identified as Irfan, was brought to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) for a post-mortem