Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif inaugurated the Daanish School in Islamabad on Sunday, saying he was committed to giving underprivileged children a quality education. He said financial hardship should not stop talented students from getting the chance to succeed. The ceremony was also marked by emotional accounts from students who had struggled to continue their studies before being admitted.
Speaking at the event, Shehbaz said young people in the country had remarkable potential but were often held back by a lack of money. Students’ stories about their hardships moved him and other attendees to tears. He told the gathering, “Today, I stand before you not as the prime minister but as a genuine servant,” and stressed that equal opportunity and access to quality education were vital for Pakistan’s future.
Admissions, facilities and staffing at the Islamabad campus
He said many hardworking parents earn their living in extreme weather yet cannot pay for their children’s schooling or healthcare because their incomes are limited. As a result, talented children from poorer families often cannot picture themselves studying at prestigious institutions such as Aitchison College. “No talented child should be deprived of quality education because of financial difficulties,” the prime minister said. He added that young people could help bring international recognition to Pakistan through their talent and effort.
A briefing given to the prime minister during the event set out the school’s basic details. The Islamabad Daanish School sits on 30 acres and has started teaching students in grades six, seven and eight. According to the briefing, 360 boys and girls from different areas were admitted purely on merit, with 120 students in each grade.
The school has recruited 38 teachers, and the teaching staff will be increased as needed. The campus has separate academic blocks for boys and girls, each with 24 classrooms. Facilities include information technology, science and robotics laboratories, an e-library and an art room. The school is meant to give students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds access to modern learning facilities and chances to build academic and practical skills.
Students describe the struggles that brought them to the school
The prime minister listened to students who described the financial pressure their families had faced while trying to secure a better future for them. Zahid Gul, a student from Kurram, said he was delighted to have won a place at the Islamabad Daanish School, where he can use science laboratories and sports facilities. He said paying fees at a private school in the former Kurram Agency had been hard because his elderly father had no other source of income.
Zahid said his brother earned money by herding other people’s sheep and goats, while he sold scrap on Sundays to pay for his education. Despite these difficulties, he said he had consistently ranked among the top students in his class. Shehbaz embraced him and urged him to keep working hard.
Another student, Aiman Ali Gul, recalled that her father had encouraged her to achieve something meaningful despite the family’s limited resources. She said the lack of facilities had sometimes left her discouraged, but winning admission had made her father happy, as he had long hoped to see her get a good education. “Seeing the Daanish School, I felt that my father’s dream had come true,” she said, thanking the prime minister for the opportunity.
Aiman said she was overwhelmed to have a platform of such size to share her story. She also stressed that every child at the ceremony was a Pakistani, regardless of their background. Their accounts highlighted the financial barriers that children from low-income households face when trying to get an education.
Programme origins and plans for wider expansion
Shehbaz said the Daanish Schools initiative was launched in 2010 to offer children from disadvantaged families educational opportunities similar to those enjoyed by wealthier students. He said the programme was designed to reach talented children in remote areas, including Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan, who might otherwise struggle to get a quality education. He recalled a talented girl from Bahawalpur who overcame major obstacles to continue her studies and later became a doctor serving people. He said the aim was not just to build schools but to help disadvantaged children develop their abilities and contribute to society.
Federal Minister for Education and Professional Training Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui called the inauguration a historic occasion. He said institutions like Daanish Schools were needed to turn knowledge into wisdom and to give future generations room for learning, research and development. He expressed the hope that people would see the opening of the Islamabad school as an important first step toward broader educational goals.
Rana Mashhood Ahmad Khan, chairman of the Prime Minister’s Youth Programme, said Shehbaz had set up a foundation for scholarships and the Punjab Daanish Authority during his time as chief minister of Punjab. He said the authority now operates as the Pakistan Daanish Authority, and that scholarship and laptop schemes had also been introduced to support talented students.
The Islamabad school is part of a wider plan to extend the Daanish Schools model to more parts of the country. In July, the prime minister directed the Daanish Authority to complete schools under construction on time and asked that training in information technology, artificial intelligence and robotics become part of the curriculum. The government said 29 schools had been proposed nationwide, with 15 approved and construction under way at 13 locations at the time of the announcement. The initiative aims to widen access to quality education for talented students from disadvantaged backgrounds, including those in remote and underserved areas.
