Religious schools, or madrasas, have been integral to the cultural and educational landscape of the subcontinent and the broader Muslim world for centuries. At the time of the independence, around 250 madrasas existed in Pakistan. Since then, these religious institutions have experienced exponential growth, with tens of thousands
A JUDGE at the Lahore High Court recently ordered that schools should arrange for and organise transport for schoolchildren by the end of the winter break. The order came in the hearings on the case about smog in Lahore. The use of public transport for schooling is expected to reduce
WHETHER schools are open or closed, it is not going to have much of an impact on smog levels across Punjab. The decision about closing schools has more to do with some notion that children will be less exposed to the smog if they stay at home than
This year’s State of the World’s Children Report examines the forces and trends shaping our world today and reflects on how they might shape the future. The report explores three megatrends that will profoundly impact children’s lives between now and 2050: demographics shifts, the climate and environmental crises
LAHORE. Despite a billion-rupee budget, schools across the province have no clean bathrooms or drinking water available for students For students spending nearly six to seven hours away from home each day, the school premises become almost like a second home. Yet for the hapless students stuck in
The child learning in the classroom is a subject of great importance. While some argue that traditional classroom settings are outdated and ineffective, others firmly believe that they remain primary for a child’s intellectual, social, and emotional development. Let’s examine how. One of the primary advantages of child
Pakistan’s education system spans multiple levels, including compulsory education for children aged 5-16, covering pre-primary to higher secondary education, with 349,909 institutions serving over 56 million students as of 2022-23. Despite improvements, around 26 million children remain out of school, with girls making up a significant portion. The
In 2023, Pakistan had approximately 26.2 million out-of-school children (OOSC) aged 5-16, up from 23 million due to the impacts of COVID-19 and severe floods. Non-Formal Education (NFE) has been critical in addressing this crisis through flexible and innovative learning models like Accelerated Learning Programs (ALPs), which focus
INSTABILITY continues to haunt Balochistan, as Friday morning’s bombing in Mastung has shown. At least nine fatalities have been confirmed — mostly children — while at the time of writing no group had claimed responsibility for this atrocity. Considering Balochistan’s complex vortex of violence, both separatist militants or
PAKISTAN is in the midst of a critical education crisis, with over 22.8 million children aged five to 16 years out of school, placing it second only to Nigeria in this context. The situation is especially dire for girls, with 53 percent out of school as compared to
The Sindh government has stopped the salaries of almost 1,400 absent teachers, and other employees in the education department. Such employees are referred to as ghost employees – a euphemism for the absentees. The issue is chronic in the province’s education department, in particular. According to the District
AT the launching ceremony of the Continuing Professional Development (CPD) project to be implemented in Sindh a couple of years ago, I asked the then leader of the initiative whether they had conducted any assessment of teachers’ needs. His response was typical: “We know their needs.” This has