ISLAMABAD: Dozens of students joined a protest outside the National Press Club on Friday, which was organised by the Child Rights Movement (CRM), demanding the government establish a new ministry for children and their rights.

CRM Coordinator Alishba Yousaf said the organisation had contacted a number of students at various schools over the past few months and it was decided to gather them in front of the press club to protest and share their views with the media.

She said the government should make the needs and rights of the children of Pakistan a priority and establish a child rights ministry and allocate proper funds to it so the issues of children may be addressed.

`A large number of children are deprived of their basic rights. Also, the increasing cases of kidnappings and abductions have forced children to remain indoors, which also affects their performance in school, she said.

Chief Executive of UGOOG, a non-government organisation, Sye d Ishtiaq Gillani said that the media should play its role in raising awareness about child rights.

He said CRM will raise a voice for children at every relevant forum in order toprotect the basic rights of children.

One of the protestors, Mian Osama Nawaz is a student of a private school `Most children in Pakistan do not know about their rights, which means they cannot raise a voice for them. The state should establish a ministry and allocate funds for the protection of children`s rights,` he said.

Even when he was on his way to the protest, Mr Nawaz said he saw two children sitting on the footpath.

`Both were bare foot and their clothes were dirty. As they sat looking at my car, I saw thousand questions in their eyes,` he said.

Another student, Maryam Wali said the government has been focusing on many other issues and that the rights of children is not a priority.

Even though the government claims that education is free, parents still have to pay a lot to send their children to school, said astudent,SanaFarrukh.

`The syllabus varies across the country so if a student moves from one province to another, it is difficult for him to catch up,` she said.

Pakistan signed the UN Convention on Human Rights in 1990, but has so far not allocated a budget for children said a protester, Hammad Kiani. A Reporter