Daily Times

Sir: According to the Society for the Protection of the Rights of the Child (SPARC), nearly 1.5 million street children are present in Pakistan, and this number can increase due to natural disasters and poverty. These street children spend their days scavenging in heaps of garbage and playing with stray dogs. They have nothing to eat.

They roam around begging, and sleep on footpaths. The research showed that street children are braver, smarter and sharper as compared to privileged children. Unfortunately, they do not have any opportunity to go to school, and thus they remained deprived of education. Most of these children become victims of sexual abuse, but no one is there to protect them. Under a government programme, 500 street children were enrolled in schools but this should be extended to cover all street children. It is the responsibility of government to establish schools for street children

SANA KHAN

Kech