LAHORE: Three girls living at the Child Protection and Welfare Bureau (CPWB) Punjab have secured admission to Punjab University on merit, clearing open competition lists on the strength of their own academic results.
Manahil Shahbaz has been admitted to BS Management, Farah Shahbaz to BS Sociology, and Saadia Zia to the MSc Sociology programme, all on merit.
The distinction matters. Merit admission at Punjab University is determined by aggregate marks against a published cut-off, with no concessionary route involved. These are places won in open competition against candidates from stable homes with paid tuition support.
Chairperson of the Child Protection and Welfare Bureau Punjab Sara Ahmad congratulated the three on their achievement, saying their success was clear proof of their hard work, determination and academic ability.
She said that alongside providing protection to children, providing quality education and opportunities for a bright future is among the Bureau’s priorities, and that every child should have the right and the opportunity to fulfil their dreams through education.
Sara Ahmad said that in line with the vision of Chief Minister Punjab Maryam Nawaz, children under the Bureau’s care are being given equal opportunities in education, skills and advancement in life so that they can become respectable, self-reliant and successful citizens of society in future.
The Chairperson added that the merit admission of three girls to Punjab University is an encouraging example for other children under the Bureau’s care, and that the Child Protection and Welfare Bureau will continue practical steps for children’s education and upbringing and for their bright future.
The Child Protection and Welfare Bureau was established to protect children at risk — those found begging, working in hazardous conditions, abandoned, orphaned, or removed from abusive environments. Its mandate runs from rescue and shelter through education, health care and psychological support.
The harder part of that mandate has always been what happens after rescue. A child taken off the street is safe; a child taken off the street and put through matriculation, intermediate and a university entrance requirement has had an outcome changed. Institutional care systems worldwide struggle at precisely this transition point, where residents age out with a certificate but no pathway.
The Bureau has been expanding its post-rescue programming, including a scheme to give vulnerable children vocational training in fields ranging from fashion design to loom weaving — a parallel track for residents whose route out is a trade rather than a degree.
Two of the three admissions are in sociology, the discipline that studies precisely the systems of family breakdown, poverty and institutional care these students have lived inside. Whether that is coincidence or intent, it is the kind of detail that tends to shape a professional trajectory.
Neither the Bureau nor the university has said what financial support will follow the three students through their degrees. University admission is the entry cost; tuition, transport, books and living expenses are the recurring ones, and they run for four years in the case of the two BS programmes.
Nor has the Bureau published aggregate figures — how many children in its care sat board examinations this year, how many qualified for tertiary education and how many secured places. Those numbers would establish whether these three admissions represent a systemic improvement or three exceptional students.
The Lahore Times has requested that data. The broader admissions cycle in Punjab continues this month, with the MDCAT scheduled for 20 September under Safe City camera monitoring in 15 cities.
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