PM Shehbaz inaugurates Daanish School in Islamabad, stresses equal academic opportunities

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif inaugurated a Daanish School in Islamabad on Sunday, emphasizing the initiative's goal of offering top-tier education to underprivileged and gifted students, providing them equal opportunities as those of affluent children. Daanish schools, launched by the Punjab government, aim to deliver quality education to underprivileged and talented students, forming the largest network of boarding schools for both girls and boys in the country.

The premier highlighted success stories of Daanish School graduates, such as a Khyber Pakhtunkhwa girl who overcame challenges and a woman from Bahawalpur who became a doctor after losing her father in childhood. He lamented that despite the sons of wealthy individuals gaining access to elite institutions like Aitchison College, countless intelligent children from impoverished backgrounds in Azad Kashmir, Gilgit-Baltistan, and other regions could not even consider entering such institutions.

Shehbaz stressed that every child in Pakistan deserved equal opportunities, whether they were offspring of the nation's richest individuals or those who had lost both parents. He remarked that wealthy individuals could send their children to the best schools in Pakistan and abroad, while those less fortunate lacked such access. The PMO announced that the inauguration marked the dawn of a new era in education and excellence.

The school, which opened its doors in 2024, occupies a 10-acre plot of land allocated by the Capital Development Authority in Islamabad. In March, the school received over 7,000 applications for just 210 seats. The board of governors had approved a budget of Rs3.8 billion for the 2026-27 academic year.