Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has highlighted the Daanish School programme as an effort to give children from poor and deserving families access to quality education. Speaking at an International Youth Day event in Islamabad on August 12, he said Pakistan cannot progress as a welfare state without giving all children equal access to education.
The Daanish School system was created to provide free, high-quality education to children who cannot afford expensive private schools. The schools also provide facilities such as accommodation, food, uniforms, sports and modern learning resources.
The programme was started in Punjab in 2010 and has since been expanded to other parts of Pakistan. The federal government has planned Daanish Schools in areas including Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Gilgit-Baltistan, Balochistan, Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The prime minister has said these schools should provide education at a standard similar to leading institutions such as Aitchison College, while remaining free for deserving students.
The government is also working to complete the Daanish Schools under construction and expand the network to provide more children from low-income families with better educational opportunities.
