ISLAMABAD: As the federal and Punjab governments plan to open up a Daanish school in Islamabad, the Capital Development Authority (CDA) on Thursday approved a summary to set up this school in the Kuri area of the capital.

If all goes as planned, a Daanish school, which also offers boarding facilities to students, will be established in Kuri. Sources said that the CDA board had earmarked 10 acres of land in Kuri for the said school at subsidised rates fixed for government projects.

In its meeting chaired by the CDA chief, the board approved the summary tabled by the planning wing for setting up the said school after the approval from the federal government. “We approved a summary to provide 10-acre land for the school in Kuri area,” said a member of the CDA board, who wished not to be named.

Daanish schools provide free quality education for underprivileged children in Punjab and this project was started by then Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif in 2010. These schools offer boarding facilities to students. According to sources, this project is close to the heart of PM Shehbaz and he wanted to bring this education facility to Islamabad as well.

Punjab, which is also ruled by the PML-N, is also interested in establishing this school in the federal territory, apparently to help the “underprivileged and talented students” of the capital.

As of yet, there is no decision on how the school will be run. Sources said the decision about whether a new authority would be established for this school or it would be run by the Punjab Daanish schools authoity has yet to be taken.

“Since it will be only school in Islamabad so, it can easily be run under Punjab’s already established system,” a source said.

In January last year, the federal government had announced to establish a Daanish School and Center of Excellence Authority in Balochistan to materialise Prime Minister Shebhaz Sharif’s vision of imparting free-of-charge education to poor children of the province. According to a press release issued at the time, the provincial assembly of Balochistan would make necessary legislation to execute this historic educational project, a PM Office press release said.

“The initiative features establishing schools of international standard, development of quality curriculum, and construction of laboratories to be equipped with information technology. To be headed by the chief minister of Balochistan, the authority would comprise the chief secretary, provincial secretaries of education and finance besides at least three members nominated by the federal government... It would also be responsible for the development of educational courses, distribution of scholarships, conducting examinations and generating funds from both private and government resources,” read the press release.

Published in Dawn, March 15th, 2024