The expanding corruption probe into Sindh’s education boards has laid bare a rot that goes far deeper than initially feared. What began as an investigation into irregularities at the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education, Mirpurkhas, has now spiralled into a province-wide scandal, implicating senior officials and the
According to estimates, approximately 26.2 million children are out of school, including 13.4 million girls. Between 20% and 28% of school-age children are not enrolled at all, many forced to prioritise survival over education. Why do some children enjoy their right to education while others are denied it?
In March, the march of tiny-weeny feet taps the corridors of the schools. The seedling signs of the start of a new academic year. The happy hum of new admissions spreads colours and smiles all around. However, the first day of a child at the school disillusions some
Despite significant progress, Pakistan lags in achieving SDG target 4.1. UNICEF reports that Pakistan has the second-highest proportion of out-of-school children globally. Millions of children are denied access to basic education in Pakistan each year. An estimated 25.1 million Pakistani children are out of school (Pakistan Education Statistics,
Another exam paper scandal has surfaced in Karachi in which individuals running multiple WhatsApp groups, monetising access to Matric and Intermediate papers, were arrested. Such incidents have, for the umpteenth time, exposed how examination systems in Pakistan are designed, managed, and ultimately compromised. The details matter. Organised groups
ESHAAL, a 12-year-old student in Grade 7, sits in front of her laptop screen attending a 45-minute math lesson online. Her video is on, the teacher can see her, but she is disconnected from the lesson. Instead, she is consumed by a private chat with her friend on
The other day, a private educational institution offered me an opportunity to guide its students on how to solve the question paper in board exams to achieve maximum marks or at least how to avoid deduction of marks because of lack of right and relevant information. The selected
A highly ambitious plan to enrol half of the 25.1 million out-of-school children in Pakistan by 2030 has just been undertaken by the Sindh government in collaboration with UNICEF. The move aims to tackle larger issues such as poverty, child labour, gender discrimination and access to education over
On social media, a wave of videos recently exposed students using advanced gadgets to cheat in examinations. While the focus has been on policing misconduct, a deeper issue remains unexamined: students are not disengaging from education because of a lack of discipline, but because they increasingly question its
Poverty, food insecurity, gender inequality, and funding – all of these reasons have been used by the government on various occasions to explain why there are 26.2 million children aged 5-16 out of school. A country that has the world’s second-highest number of out-of-school children is apparently so
A digital transformation has been introduced to the quiet, bustling homes everywhere, replacing the sounds of children playing on the streets. If you visit a typical household today, it is likely to observe a child bent over a phone with headphones in, completely lost in a digital world.
Every year, as examinations begin under the Board of Secondary Education Karachi, the same pattern of disruption and disorder resurfaces, exposing an examination system that appears incapable of learning from its own repetition. What should be a routine, well-oiled operation instead descends into confusion, placing an unfair burden