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Despite the Constitutional provisions of fundamental rights to all its citizens, Pakistan has been, time and again, a focus of controversy at international level for discriminating against its religious minorities. This controversy seems to have basis as reflected in media reports of violent acts of discrimination against minorities. It is also documented in gray literature compiled by various rights advocacy groups. In addition, it is investigated in limited scholarly analyses of Pakistani laws, state policies and various government interventions or lack of it. This article is an attempt to make empirical contribution to the current analysis from a human and social perspective. The article is based on an original research study which explores the Christian students’ experiences in mainstream public schools in Lahore. Based on the findings of this study, it is concluded that the Christian students did experience discrimination in public schools and this discrimination is caused due to the way the state run education system is designed and implemented.

Keywords: Discrimination, Religious Minority, Public schools.

This study was designed to understand elementary students’ reading engagement in English language, to measure the relationship between students’ reading engagement and their achievement in English language learning, and to compare level of reading engagement in learning of English language between boys and girls. Five boys’ and five girls’ public elementary schools in Tehsil Lahore were selected randomly as sample of the study. 200 male and female students were randomly from10 sampled schools. A Reading Engagement Survey with 14 items and 3 factors was adapted for data collection. Pilot study showed .80 reliability of the questionnaire. A positive significant relationship between students’ reading engagement and achievement was found. Data revealed that female students demonstrated higher level of reading engagement than male students. The study recommends that male students should be given more attention to increase English Language reading engagement so that they can maximize their achievement.

Keywords: Reading Engagement, language anxiety, task, reading flow, student achievement

This study was aimed to explore the barriers of low achievers of rural elementary public schools in Punjab. The objectives of the study were to identify the barriers which resist low achievers’ success in learning inside and outside the school and to suggest coping strategies to minimize these barriers. The study was exploratory in nature, so it carried out under the umbrella of qualitative research approach. The sample of the study was 10 teachers and 20 low achievers students selected from girls of rural elementary public schools of Sargodha, Punjab. For sample selection, first, the researchers conveniently selected 10 schools from Sargodha district. Secondly, the teachers and students were purposively selected. The interview protocol was used to collect the data. The researchers personally visited the schools and conducted interviews to obtain in-depth data of the barriers which have multilayered hidden realities and causes, as perceived and experienced by the teachers and students. For data analysis, microanalysis of the transcripts of interviews was used. The findings revealed that personal, educational, societal, economical, emotional and home related barriers are the main reasons to make girls low achievers. It was concluded that due to these forces, students remain left behind and show poor performance in the classes and examinations. The study recommends the coping strategies to schools managers and teachers that may be used to overcome such barriers.

Keywords: Barriers, Low Achievers and Elementary Schools  

Accomplishment of higher education is not enough to get employed in today’s economic world. It demands from young graduates to consider other practicable career options like entrepreneurship. The foremost objective of the study was to examine the role of entrepreneurship education in fostering and refining entrepreneurial intentions of students at higher education level. The data were obtained through a cross-sectional survey by using a questionnaire from 600 graduate and post-graduate students of three public universities. Data were analyzed using multivariate statistics. The findings showed that entrepreneurship education was significantly affecting the entrepreneurial intentions of the students. This study added towards the limited literature on entrepreneurship education in Pakistani context. Higher education sector, therefore, should give attention to encourage entrepreneurship awareness among students to cultivate entrepreneurial intentions.

Keywords: Entrepreneurship Education, Entrepreneurial Intentions, Higher Education

The central purpose of the study was to know the level of acceptability of ordinary school teachers towards the inclusion of children with visual impairment and making them aware of the inclusion of these children. The type of research was descriptive. The population included all teachers serving in the regular schools in Punjab. Researchers conveniently selected a sample of 100 ordinary school teachers to collect data for this quantitative investigation.  A close ended questionnaire was used as an instrument. Three point Likert type scale was used to get the responses of the teachers. Frequencies and percentages of  responses were calculated. The acceptability level of majority of  ordinary school teachers was high. Few of the teachers agreed that visually impaired children could get better education in special schools.Conclusions were drawn and recommendations to School Education Department and Special Education Department were made.

Key words: Inclusion, children with visual impairment, ordinary school teachers, acceptability level

This paper focuses on the students’ perceptions of government secondary school (GSSs) to determine the effect of sports activities on their cognitive, emotional, moral, and social development. The descriptive analytical design was used to accomplish the study. The study was conducted in late 2008 on a random sample of 257 students of GSSs of district Mianwali in Pakistan. Data were collected through administrating a questionnaire. Students’ opinions were sought on four compatible indicators of their effectual development through sports activities. Results revealed that sports activities help students to learn various social norms, improve reminiscence skills, respect towards others, self-discipline, and invigorating effects on their mind. Sports activities hardly encourage students to utilize their mental potential and control their antagonistic moods. The effect of sports activities on cognitive, emotional, and social development of students is prominent but the effect on their moral development is pathetic. The study concludes that the sports activities should be arranged on regular basis to encourage students to utilize their mental potential for their healthier learning.

Keywords: Sports activities, cognitive, moral, social, development

The current study was planned to explore the impact of parents’ socio-economic status on students’ socio-emotional intelligence at secondary level. The study was correlational in nature. Survey technique was used to collect data. Data were collected through self developed questionnaires, i.e. Socio-economic Status Scale (SESS) and Socio-emotional Intelligence Scale (SEIS).  Four hundred respondents (Male=200 & Female=200) of 9^th and10^th class (session 2016) enrolled in public secondary schools from Sahiwal division and their parents were randomly selected as sample of study. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) was used to analyze the data. In order to measure the relationship between parents’ socio-economic status (IV) and students’ socio-emotional intelligence (DV), Pearson r was computed. To investigate the impact of parents’ socio-economic status at students’ socio-emotional intelligence, regression analysis applied. A significant relationship was found between parents’ socio-economic status and students’ socio-emotional intelligence. Interpretation of regression analysis exposed that Family Background, Social Prestige and Home Environment can nurture the students’ socio-emotional intelligence. Economic status of parents has no significant contribution in developing students’ socio-emotional intelligence.

Key Words: Socio-economic Status, Socio-emotional intelligence, Secondary School Students.