Education for all

In the quiet classrooms of Pakistani universities, thousands of Afghan students – many in the last stretch of their advanced degrees – are living with an unrelenting countdown. On 31 August 2025, Pakistan’s government has ordered that all Afghan nationals must leave the country or face arrest and deportation.

The initiative, spearheaded by Prime Minister and Minister of Education Dr. Harini Amarasuriya, aims to overhaul the country’s education system to meet the demands of a rapidly evolving global landscape.

The CCR at NLUO is a teaching, research and advocacy centre established to advance legal and social innovations in child protection.

An overwhelming number of Sri Lankan households subsist on less than Rs. 1000 a day, or roughly Rs. 30,000 a month. These families are compelled to make impossible choices – often between food and education – leading many to defer or forgo early education for their children.

By training villagers in digital skills and providing them with the tools to access government services, these initiatives improve livelihoods and foster a sense of empowerment in rural communities.

UNAMA’s quarterly report highlighted sections of the ministry’s law, claiming it imposes new restrictions on women. It stated that the law formalises previous decrees and broadens existing limitations while introducing additional ones.

The report states that 54 million students in India alone were impacted, primarily due to severe heatwaves that led to widespread school closures and changes in academic schedules.

Sher Abbas Stanikzai, a senior political deputy at Afghanistan's Foreign Ministry, stated that there was no valid reason to continue restricting education for women and girls, emphasising that the ongoing ban was not rooted in Islamic law.