Dismal Picture: Govt fails to meet education targets

PESHAWAR: The annual report of the Society for the Protection of the Rights of the Child (Sparc) stated that a total of 4.8 million people had been affected by floods and ongoing insurgency, half of them being children.

The report, titled ‘The State of Pakistan’s Children 2011’, further said that 51% children in Pakistan fail to continue their education beyond the primary level.

During the launch of the report on Tuesday, Sparc Regional Manager Jahanzeb Khan said: “As the number of people affected by disasters increase, non-government organisations are faced with increasing difficulty to continue their humanitarian activities.”

He further said that despite government initiatives to enhance child protection laws, domestic child labour continued to be a major issue.

During 2011, 11 cases of abuse, torture and deaths of child domestic workers were reported from different parts of the country. The report also said that Pakistan was lagging behind in their education sector targets.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 12^th, 2012.