KARACHI:
More than five million primary-school-age children are out of school, most of them girls. Human Rights Watch research has found that girls are excluded from or drop out of school for various reasons including lack of schools, costs associated with studying, child labour, child marriage and gender discrimination. Human Rights Watch continues to urge the government to increase investment in education and develop measures to get all out-of-school children into education, with a focus on ending gender disparity.
Attacks on schools and the use of children in suicide bombings by extremist groups continues. In 2017, the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights invited Pakistan to endorse the Safe Schools Declaration, which proposes steps to protect schools from attacks and military use during armed conflict. Human Rights Watch similarly urges Pakistan to join this declaration.
Imaan Arif
Lahore
Published in The Express Tribune, September 14th, 2022.
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