PAKISTAN has recently passed laws that greatly limit child labour and indentured servitude, but those laws are universally ignored. Some 11 million children, aged four to 14, keep the country’s factories operating, often working in brutal and squalid conditions.

No two negotiations for the sale of a child are alike, but all are based on the deceit that parties involved have the best interests of the child at heart.

Among all the four provinces, Punjab is considered to be having greater literacy rate but about 35 million people are illiterate at present in Punjab.

Educational standards and measurements are very much low in most of the parts of Pakistan.

Most of the educational crises in Pakistan are known because of language discrimination.

In our private sector schools, subjects are taught in English while Urdu is our mother tongue. In this sense Urdu becomes neglected.

A very few students get access to secondary level education; most of them end up at the primary level. Also, most children cannot complete their secondary education due to poverty.

Parents force their children to work. Researches show that the child labour rate in Pakistan is higher amongst other Asian countries. Most of the girls in Pakistan are illiterate compared to boys.

The government needs to focus on the education crisis in Pakistan. A number of government schools remain closed round the year due to negligence: there are not enough teachers, and buildings are also in a much poor condition.

In addition, the educational system of the country must be reshaped and restructured according to national development goals.

Orphans and other deserving children must be helped financially and given a chance at schools. It is also essential to eliminate child labour.

ANAM HAYAT Islamabad