The children of Pakistan share their vision for the country and how they feel it should be governed. Here are the lofty aspirations of our readers who are ready to be the leaders of tomorrow and solve all our problems. Read on to find out what they plan to do if they become the Prime Minister of Pakistan for a day!

I will establish a safe and just society so that innocent people do not suffer and lose their lives, like my brother Mehmood Hassain, who was martyred in the Quetta Police Training College attack, on October 2016.

Shayhak Nazir,

14 years, Turbat

I will resolve the identity crisis of our nation so that there will be no Punjabi, Sindhi, Balochi or Pakhtoon — all will only be Pakistanis. This will make us united and we will be a nation as per the dreams of our Quaid-i-Azam.

Gul-e-Zahra Mahfooz,

15 years, Multan

My priority will be free and safe education for all children of Pakistan, especially after the horrible incident of APS.

Waqar Baloch,

12 years, Peshawar

I will make a good underground drainage system to improve the drainage of water during rains.

Muhammad Hasan Rasheed,

9 years, Karachi

I would develop the northern region of Pakistan, because Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Gilgit Baltistan are beautiful provinces which should be developed as tourist destinations.

Beenish Saeed,

11 years, Lahore

I will make sure that trees are planted in public places. We can plant fruit trees there too and shopkeepers can earn by selling those fruits.

Mahira Aziz,

8 years, Karachi

My main focus will be to provide justice to all, especially women who are being victimised and harassed in various ways.

Essiyaan Haider,

14 years, Turbat

I will work towards making Pakistanis united in order to work for country’s development.

Junaid Bakht Baloch,

14 years, Turbat

I would give severe punishment to all those heartless people who are harming others by making inappropriate food and by mixing harmful chemicals in drinks.

Syeda Aisha Ali,

13 years, Karachi

I would ban all the video games which show violence. These games are the main reason behind children’s violent behaviour these days.

Muneeb-ur-Rahman,

10 years, Karachi

Children are the future and they must have a clean mind therefore, I would ban all the factories which make toy guns and the developers of the shooting video games.

Sumair,

12 years, Islamabad

I would create free housing, education and health facilities for the poor.

Wareesha Noor,

9 years, Rawalpindi

I would decrease the prices of all the things in order to make it easy for everyone to purchase the things they need.

Fakiha Waseem,

7 years, Islamabad

I would support women’s sports. First, I’ll provide women’s sports teams with special coaches and trainers. I would also introduce new games for women and promote wrestling in Pakistan.

Nadia Nazeer Ahmed,

14 years, Turbat

I will establish English medium schools at every town and village of Pakistan with experienced teachers.

Nabiha Kashif,

13 years, Islamabad

I would establish gender equality.

Noor Bakhsh,

15 years, Kech

I would control pollution and organise environmental campaigns to create awareness about pollution. I will build power plants that produce electricity from pollution-free sources like wind and water.

Muhammad Ahmed Saif Awan,

13 years, Islamabad

I will control pollution by ordering the public to use proper bins for litter and motivate people to walk more and ride less.

Aamna Saif,

11years, Islamabad

I will build schools, colleges, libraries and hospital.

Hania Zehra,

11 years, Karachi

I would give back all the loans, without interest, to the countries we have borrowed money from. I shall make Pakistan a corruption-free, educated and prosperous country, Insha Allah.

Abdullah Ahmed Nawaz,

13 years, Karachi

I will eradicate corruption and the reign of these corrupt leaders. I will stand against injustice, inequity, abuse, oppression and persecution.

Anusha Touseef,

15 years, Karachi

I will develop the most neglected parts of the country, such as my home district Kech.

Sanagul Noor,

14 years, Turbat

I would establish proper recycling system and disposal of rubbish.

Husaina Shabbir,

15 years, Karachi

There would be one international level curriculum in all schools. This would lead to a uniform standard of education.

Syed Salman,

16 years, Hyderabad

My first priority would be the improvement of education.

Ayesha Mehdi,

11 years, Lahore

I would provide free education for children till the age of 18 and I’d also make education compulsory for children under 15.

Zainab Rehman,

13 years, Karachi

I will eliminate corruption and make sure that all the people from the head of the state to the commonest of citizens are treated equally.

Abdul Bari Shaikh,

12 years, Karachi

My main focus will be on the education system of our country, because only education has the power to bring about development in a country.

Maganj Habib,

7 years, Kech

I would build health facilities in the poor areas of Pakistan so that people could go there and get free treatment.

Amul Asghar,

9 years, Karachi

I would create a clean environment and better public transport system and only allow hybrid cars in order to decrease pollution, which would change Pakistan’s image in the world.

Humna Noman,

11 years, Karachi

I will focus on providing affordable and good education.

Humna Noman,

11 years, Karachi

I will end corruption so that our country can be a superpower like America.

Asima Baloch,

13 years, Turbat

I would remove all corrupt people from the government.

Yousha Sohail,

11 years, Lahore

I will eradicate corruption and punish all the corrupt government employees.

Uroosa Hafeez,

16 years, Umerkot

My first priority will be to make education free. Then I will provide respectable jobs to the poor so that poverty comes to an end.

Mulook Jan Ali,

13 year, Turbat

I will improve the infrastructure of Pakistan.

Muhammad Ishaque Solangi,

14 years, Islamabad

I will help the poor by giving them jobs.

SajidAli Brohi,

15 years, Hyderabad

I would pass a law that education, health and food will be provided by the government for all citizens.

Fatimah,

9 years, Lahore

I will ensure that there is no extremism and minorities are provided equal rights.

Yahya Ur Rehman,

16 years, Mirpurkhas

My priority will be to make the country clean and green. I will appoint many people to clean the garbage from the roads on daily basis and they will also be responsible for planting trees and they will be paid good salaries.

Syed Zain Husain,

12 years, Karachi

I will give top priority to improve the education sector.

Faisal Mohammad Hasni,

11 years, Khuzdar

I would never allow political gatherings and events to be held on roads.

Waseem Raja,

12 years, Turbat

I would educate the poor and give them jobs, then I would eradicate corruption and make our country prosperous.

Sana Palijo,

12 years, Karachi

Education is the key to success, therefore, I will make it free for everyone and build schools across the country.

Periwasha,

14 years, Karachi

I will provide free education and scholarships. I will build new schools in every region of Pakistan so that all children can study and fulfil their dreams.

Warda Sahar,

12 years, Islamabad

I would end the privatisation of health and educational institutions because the growing influence of these institutions has made them limited to a certain class of people, resulting in frustration among the common people.

Ahmed Mahmood,

11 years, Lahore

I would establish a proper system of recycling and disposal of rubbish.

Husaina Shabbir,

15 years, Karachi

I will make sure that every child has access to modern standards of education, especially girls.

Maham Ahmed,

14 years, Karachi

I will provide free health facilities to those who can’t afford to pay for it, especially people living in villages and slum areas.

Abdul Hadi Ahmed,

10 years, Lahore

First, I would give money to the poor so that they can buy things they always wanted to buy. Then, I would donate only to honest organisations.

Mahnoor Amjad,

12 years, Lahore

I will work for the betterment of the poor by giving them jobs. Then, I would provide high quality education to their children.

Shahida Ibrahim,

12 years, Kech

I would build schools and colleges so that more people can get education, irrespective of their age.

Maliha Fatima,

14 years, Karachi

I would focus more on girls’ rights — their education and their marriage. They should be free to decide what they want in their life and nobody should force his/her will on them.

Afrah Saleem,

13 years, Turbat

I would ensure the provision of equal water distribution across the country and uninterrupted power supply.

Umer Jan Yaseen,

12 years, Kech

My first priority would be to make Pakistan clean. I would install dustbins everywhere and ensure proper disposal of the garbage.

Javaria Qaddafi,

15 years, Rawalpindi

I would provide free and quality education to make Pakistan one of the most educated countries in the world.

Imran Fazal,

10 years, Turbat

I would create a safe environment for women to walk freely anywhere. There will strict laws to punish all those who behave badly with women.

Alizeh Saqib,

13 years, Bahawalpur

I would improve the standard of education and make it affordable for common people.

Syed Haider Shahid,

11 years, Karachi

I will provide all the necessities of life to the poor and needy and then provide them with good quality education. 

Akhlaq Ahmed,

11 years, Turbat

First, I will put all the corrupt people behind bars. Then I would give jobs to the jobless.

Wajiha Hassan,

11 years, Karachi

I would place garbage bins everywhere and allocate green walls where people could donate things for the poor.  

Mohammad Wadood Umer,

14 years, Karachi

I would make good roads, more parks and swimming pools for kids and adults alike.

Mohammad Hammad Umer,

9 years, Karachi

I will order the completion of pending development work in the country. I will provide free treatment in hospitals.

Mohammad Baqir Laghari,

11 years, Hyderabad

I would make education compulsory for everybody and build more schools, especially in the remote regions of the country.

Fatima Masood,

7 years, Karachi

I would take all the money from corrupt leaders and give it to the poor.

Maliknaaz Samad,

12 years, Turbat

I will bring equality in every sector of the country. I would enrol all the out-of-school children into schools so that they too take part in the development of the country.

Zeeshan Nasir,

12 years, Turbat

I would end discrimination and promote equal rights and justice so that Pakistan becomes a peaceful land.

Sahar. A. Karim,

11 years, Turbat

I will spread awareness about cleanliness and there will be a proper mechanism for garbage disposal. I will prohibit burning of garbage at open places. I will introduce punishments and fines for those who violate these rules.

Muhammad Ali Rashid,

8 years, Karachi

I will make more schools for poor so that no one remains uneducated. I will punish those who are against females’ education.

Mahnaz Mukhtar

13 year, Turbat

I would help the poor by first giving them jobs, scholarships to their children and free health facilities.

Waqar,

15 years, Ghotki

I will end child labour and domestic violence and there would be strict laws for these crimes.

Momin Zaman,

16 years Quetta

There will be ban on social media because it will save our time and energy which we can use in any other productive activity.

Saira Ali Bhatti,

13 years, Islamabad 

I will help the poor by funding them so that they can complete the education of their children.

Rozhatoon Sharif,

12 year, Turbat

I would remove all the corrupt leaders from their positions and all the jobless people searching for jobs will take on their positions.

Shahjan Muneer,

10 years, Turbat

I would recruit good and well-trained soldiers to eliminate the terrorists from the country.

Abdul Hakeem Jusaki,

14 years, Peshawar

I would bring an end to load-shedding so that people can sleep well and study whenever they want to.

Mehrjan Abdul Sattar,

13 years, Turbat  

Nobody cares for the transgender community in our country; although our religion teaches everyone to be treated equality. They are humans and they need respect and a proper way of earning. Therefore, I will provide them with jobs.

Fatima Baloch,

15 years, Turbat

I would eradicate poverty and stop differentiating between poor and rich.

Hifza Roshan,

15 years, Karachi

Published in Dawn, Young World August 19th, 2017