Prince William and Kate attend Games with three children

Punjab Education Minister Rana Sikandar Hayat has raised questions about the performance and accessibility of the Daanish School System. He said education at Daanish schools was expensive. As a result, the system had enrolled only around 40,000 students in 15 years. The minister questioned the effectiveness of earlier education initiatives in the province. He specifically referred to comprehensive and pilot schools established in Punjab. He asked where those schools had gone and why they had failed to deliver the expected results. Rana Sikandar Hayat said the Punjab government was working to reduce the gap between public and private education. For this purpose, the government had moved towards a public-private partnership model. He said the approach could help improve the quality of education and increase access for children. The provincial minister also highlighted the enrolment performance of the Nawaz Sharif School of Eminence programme. He said these schools had recorded an average enrolment of around 112 per cent so far. Rana Sikandar Hayat also spoke about the issue of inaccurate student records in government schools. He claimed that authorities had removed around 1.5 million ghost students from government school records across Punjab. The minister said the province still faced a major education challenge. Around 25 per cent of children in Punjab remain out of school, according to him. He said the dropout problem becomes particularly serious when students reach the high-school level. A significant number of children leave education after reaching secondary-level schools, he said. This affects the overall literacy and education indicators of the province. The minister said the government was now focusing on bringing children who are outside the education system back into schools. He said schools operating under outsourcing arrangements had been given a specific target. They would be required to enrol 5 per cent of children currently deprived of education. The initiative is aimed at increasing school enrolment and reducing the number of children who remain outside the formal education system. Rana Sikandar Hayat said improving access to education required both enrolment and retention. Bringing children into schools would not be enough if they later dropped out. He stressed the need to strengthen the education system and ensure that children continue their studies through higher grades. The minister’s remarks highlight the challenges facing Punjab’s education sector. Despite having a large network of schools, the province continues to deal with out-of-school children, inaccurate enrolment records and high dropout rates. The government is now looking towards partnerships with the private sector and reforms in public schools to address these problems. The minister said the ultimate objective was to provide more children with access to quality education and reduce the divide between public and private schooling.

Chief Election Commissioner of Azad Jammu and Kashmir Justice (retd) Ghulam Mustafa Mughal has said that the first phase of the electoral process in the region was completed in a free and transparent manner. He said all political parties actively participated in the elections. He added that polling was conducted in a peaceful environment across the region. Justice (retd) Ghulam Mustafa Mughal said voters participated in large numbers. He said people exercised their constitutional right to vote and took part in the electoral process. The chief election commissioner said the overall polling process remained peaceful. He said election authorities and other relevant institutions worked to ensure that voters could cast their ballots. He also acknowledged the role of law enforcement agencies during the elections. According to him, security personnel played an exemplary role in maintaining law and order. The chief election commissioner said security arrangements helped keep the polling environment peaceful. Law enforcement agencies remained deployed to deal with any situation that could affect the electoral process. However, he said an incident was reported in Samahni where attempts were made to disrupt polling. The people involved in creating a disturbance were arrested, he said. Justice (retd) Ghulam Mustafa Mughal said the authorities took action to ensure that polling activities were not affected. He stressed that maintaining peace was essential for a smooth electoral process. He also highlighted the participation of political parties in the elections. He said their involvement reflected the importance of the electoral process in Azad Jammu and Kashmir. The chief election commissioner’s statement came after the completion of the first phase of polling in the region. The election process attracted significant participation from voters. He said the authorities remained focused on ensuring transparency throughout the process. He also stressed the importance of maintaining law and order during polling. The election authorities are now expected to continue the next stages of the electoral process according to the announced schedule. The results and subsequent procedures will determine the political direction of the region. Justice (retd) Ghulam Mustafa Mughal said the peaceful completion of the first phase was an important development. He maintained that the cooperation of political parties, voters, election officials and law enforcement agencies helped the process move forward.