Safeguarding international schools in Pakistan: country guide

Private school registration in Pakistan runs through provincial and territorial bodies. The rules depend on where your school is.

In Islamabad, the Private Educational Institutions Regulatory Authority (PEIRA) registers private schools up to higher secondary level. It acts under the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) Private Educational Institutions (Registration and Regulation) Act 2013 (Act No XI of 2013).

PEIRA's website says a school seeking affiliation with the Federal Board (FBISE), or any other regional or international board or examining body, must register with PEIRA. Outside Islamabad, ask your provincial education department which body applies to you. In Sindh, the Child Protection Authority Act 2011 also lets the Authority set minimum standards for educational institutions (section 10).

The federal Inter Boards Coordination Commission lists four foreign systems offered in Pakistan. They are British O and A levels, the International Baccalaureate (IB), the US high school diploma and Australian qualifications. Ask your regulator how it treats a school that teaches one of them.

An accreditor such as the Council of International Schools (CIS) or the Council of British International Schools (COBIS) can add its own checks on top of local law. CIS says its accreditation includes standards that evaluate a school's child protection policy and practice. The International Task Force on Child Protection (ITFCP) publishes expectations for school communities on child safeguarding programmes.

The laws read for this guide put no general duty on teachers or schools to report suspected abuse. They are the Islamabad Capital Territory Child Protection Act 2018, the Sindh Child Protection Authority Act 2011 and the Balochistan Child Protection Act 2016.

Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have their own laws, such as the Punjab Destitute and Neglected Children Act 2004 and the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Child Protection and Welfare Act 2010. This guide did not review their texts, so ask your lawyer about them if your school is there.

The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child adopted its Pakistan observations on 30 January 2026. It asked for mandatory child-friendly reporting of violence against children and a new system for child sexual abuse, so no full nationwide duty seems to exist yet. This guide did not review criminal law, so ask your lawyer if it adds duties.

The Acts do describe the state response. In Islamabad, a Child Protection Officer can remove a child in an emergency and must apply to the court within 24 hours (section 18). In Balochistan, an officer must acknowledge a report within 24 hours and start an assessment within 72 hours (section 12).

Your school can still create a duty for its own staff. Compare how other countries handle mandatory reporting, then write your rule so it does not depend on the local legal threshold.

If a child is in immediate danger, call the police on 15 first. Then follow your school's child protection procedure and tell your DSL the same day. Save these numbers in your DSL's phone and post them where staff can read them.

• 15: police emergency, listed by Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi police.
• 1122: rescue service. Lahore Police and Karachi Police both list it, so check what covers your city.
• 1098: the Madadgaar National Helpline, a Child Helpline International member. Check its hours first.
• 1099: the Ministry of Human Rights complaints line for human rights violations, which Karachi Police also lists for missing children.
• Islamabad: the Aitzaz Hasan Child Protection Institute opened in June 2021 under the ICT Act. Section 11 says such an institution receives reports of children who need protection. Ask your lawyer for its current intake route.
• Your DSL: tell them the same day, every time.

Keeping children safe in education (KCSIE) tells staff to act on any concern about a child's welfare immediately and to speak to the DSL. KCSIE applies to schools in England, so it has no legal force in Pakistan. See which parts of KCSIE travel abroad.

Pakistani law, as read here, sets no general reporting duty on staff. Your policy has to carry one. Write a plain rule: every adult tells the DSL the same day, and the DSL decides on any outside referral.

The ITFCP also publishes a framework for filling gaps when effective practices are not in place by the government. One procedure can serve both international practice and local law if it holds these four things.

• One reporting route on one page, naming the DSL and the deputy.
• A rule that staff report the first concern, whatever the legal threshold for an offence.
• A line saying who decides on an outside referral, and which local office or police station receives it.
• A note that your lawyer confirmed the local wording, with the date.

Two legal guides updated in March 2026 say Pakistan has no general data protection law in force. They are the Chambers practice guide and DLA Piper. A draft Personal Data Protection Bill 2023 had not passed both houses of Parliament when they were written.

Other rules still apply. Chambers notes that Article 14 of the Constitution recognises privacy as a fundamental right. DLA Piper says the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act 2016 carries penal sanctions for misuse of personal information.

The draft Bill would allow transfers abroad where protection is equivalent, where there is explicit consent, or under a framework set by a new commission. It would require "critical personal data" to be kept within Pakistan, according to Chambers. It is a draft and can change, so ask your lawyer whether it has passed.

Treat safeguarding files as highly sensitive anyway. Limit who can read them, record why each person has access, and ask every supplier where the data is stored.

It depends on where the school is. The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child notes bans in Sindh, the Islamabad Capital Territory and Gilgit-Baltistan. The Islamabad Capital Territory Prohibition of Corporal Punishment Act 2021 (Act No XLIX of 2021) covers public and private schools (section 3(2)).

The End Corporal Punishment country report, updated in February 2024, adds detail. It says Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa bar it in government schools for ages 5 to 16, and that Balochistan has no ban.

In its January 2026 observations the Committee urged Pakistan to change laws that allow corporal punishment by parents, guardians and teachers, including section 89 of the Penal Code. It asked for a ban in all settings.

A school policy can be stricter than the law. Ban all physical punishment by staff in every province, and say so in your code of conduct.

Support staff, drivers and security guards may work in Urdu or a regional language such as Punjabi, Sindhi or Pashto. Put your reporting route in the languages they use. Read more on translation and localisation of safeguarding training.

The ICT Act has a gender rule for care. It says a girl child must never be taken into care, or stay in the care of, a male officer or caregiver (section 20). Think ahead about which female colleague can sit with a girl during a referral.

Marriage laws differ by province. The UN Committee says child marriage is still legally authorised in some parts of the country. Treat any student at risk of marriage under 18 as a child protection concern and tell your DSL.

For recruitment, Islamabad Police issue a Police Character Certificate. Its page lists standard processing at three working days and asks for proof of an Islamabad address. Staff who lived elsewhere in Pakistan may need that area's police.

A Pakistani certificate cannot show what a person did abroad. Overseas hires need a check from each country where they lived, plus verified references. See safer recruitment for international schools.

Work through these checks in your first month. Ask your school's lawyer to confirm the legal ones.

• Find out which body registers your school, and ask your lawyer whether any reporting duty applies to it.
• Write one reporting route in English and in staff languages, naming the DSL and the deputy.
• Write down who decides on an outside referral and which local office or police station receives it.
• Save and test 15, 1122, 1098 and 1099, then post them where staff can read them.
• Ban physical punishment in the code of conduct, whatever your province allows.
• Ask each supplier where safeguarding data is stored and who can read it.
• Add a Police Character Certificate and overseas checks to the recruitment checklist.

This guide is general information, not legal advice. Confirm current law with local counsel and the relevant authority. If a child is in immediate danger, call 15.

Facts were last checked on 19 October 2026. Several sources are advance or draft texts, so check for later versions.