HEC to Provide 2000 Laptops to ECP For Upcoming General Elections

The Higher Education Commission (HEC) will provide 2000 new laptops to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) for the upcoming general elections. The ECP has signed an agreement with HEC to purchase 2,000 new laptops. The new laptops would be given to returning officers (ROs) for the upcoming general election process.

Meanwhile, ECP issued a report stating that the number of registered voters in the country had exceeded 126 million. The ECP released the number of total registered voters till September 19, 2023. During the previous 2018 general elections when the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf came to power, the number of registered voters was 106 million.

According to the data, there are a total of 55.7 million young voters. The report stated the ratio of male and female voters in Pakistan stood at 54.02 per cent and 45.98 per cent respectively.

The electoral watchdog also released the percentage of voters in terms of age. The highest number of voters remained within the age group of 26 to 35 years.

The age-wise statistics show that

• 57m of the total eligible voters are between 18 and 35 years old.
• 27.7m or 22pc are between 36 and 45 years
• 18.1m or 14pc are between 46 and 55 years
• 11.8m or nine per cent are between 56 and 65 years
• 12m or 10pc are over the age of 65.

Meanwhile, the total number of registered voters in Islamabad was over one million. However, Punjab topped with 70.23 million voters. The number of registered voters in Balochistan is over 5.27 million of which 2.96 million are male and 2.31 million are female.

The number of registered voters in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) is over 20.19 million of which 11.79 million are male while 9.82 million are female. Similarly, the number of registered voters in Sindh is 26.52 million.

Check Also: Around 11 Million Pakistani Women Have no Digital Identity – Impact on Elections?

Laptops for teachers

The laptop scheme for university students reflected the vision of the past government related to the country’s educated youth. The scheme allowed students to enhance their learning experience and to keep themselves up-to-date with the exponentially growing body of knowledge.

The next such scheme should be extended to teachers nationwide. In the light of the ongoing financial crunch and an increased focus on online learning, universities, colleges and schools have added online learning resources into their everyday lessons.

Laptops are essential for teachers to prepare lesson plans, create presen-tations and communicate with their students. Teachers also need to have premium access to the world of knowledge. With access to these resources and devices, teachers can keep up with the demands of online teaching.

The government should immediately launch such a scheme and provide laptops to the teachers.

This will support the education sector and clearly demonstrate the government’s commitment to ensuring that our teachers have the necessary resources to deliver quality education.

DR IRFAN AZIZ

KARACHI

School principal in Pakistan accused of raping 45 women

A school principal in Pakistan has been accused of raping and blackmailing several women over the last few months. The incident came to light last week after a CCTV video of one of the victims went viral on social media.

The alleged incidents took place at a private school in Gulshan-i-Hadeed, Karachi. The victims claimed that the accused, identified as Irfan Ghafoor Memon, lured them on the pretext of giving them a job, then raped them and also recorded the crime to blackmail them.

The police launched an investigation into the matter and discovered as many as 25 such short video clips on his cellphone. One of the victims claims that Menon asked her to come to the school for an interview, and after three months, he again asked her to visit the school.

When she visited the school again, he asked her to sit in his office, locked the door, and assaulted her. He then went on to offer her a job at the school.

“The suspect repeated the offence when I visited the school after a week and when I attempted to resist, he slapped me and said that it was recorded in the CCTV camera installed at his office and warned to post the same on internet”, the complainant told the Judicial Magistrate.

Memon rented the school last year in December. There were around 10 female teachers, five male teachers, and 250 students in the school, per a report in Geo News.