PM Shehbaz Sharif announces to declare education emergency across country
ISLAMABAD (APP) - Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday announced that the federal government would declare an education emergency in the country and would dole out all possible resources to educate particularly the children from disadvantaged families.
Addressing a ceremony of the inspection of a site for Daanis School being established in Kuri area of the federal capital on Tuesday, he said that the federal government would establish Daanish Schools in Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Gilgit Baltistan and remote areas of Balochistan and Sindh to fulfill the aspiration of Quaid-e-Azam’s Pakistan by delivering quality education to children coming from economically disadvantaged families.
“This is not the fault of the poor children if their parents cannot afford quality education despite working hard or those who are orphans…If the iron gates of the Aitchison College or Grammar School are obstructing their way (to quality education), the door of Daanish Schools are open for them,” said the prime minister.
To be established over 30 acres of land, the school will provide free education and accommodation to the children from the capital city and its suburbs with a vision to provide equal opportunity for quality education. Calling the alarming figure of 26 million out-of-school children a 'criminal negligence', the prime minister said Quaid-e-Azam’s dream about Pakistan would remain unfulfilled without making arrangements for their education.
“There can be no bigger national service or the fulfillment of the responsibility than enrolling these out-of-school children,” he said and announced that the federal government would fully bear the expenses of constructing Daanish Schools in AJK, GB, remote areas of Balochistan and Sindh.
He told the gathering of federal ministers, bureaucrats, heads of international institutions, educationists and students that the Daanish Schools project was initiated under PML-N Quaid Nawaz Sharif’s vision and that the students were making an impact in debate, sports and other fields internationally.
Recounting the journey of the visionary project, the prime minister said that they resisted the immense criticism of the initiative just to support the children to support children from low-income groups with quality education at par with elite-class education institutions.
He said the groundbreaking of Islamabad’s Daanish School would be performed soon and asked the Education Ministry to ensure its completion within 6-8 months. He also announced to personally inaugurate the Daanish Schools to be established in AJK, GB and Balochistan.
Minister for Federal Education and Professional Training Dr Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui lauded the vision behind Daanish School and said the scope of the project was being expanded to other parts of the country. He requested the prime minister to declare an education emergency to address the challenges and shortcomings in the education sector and that every vacant building should be used for teaching purposes.
Highlighting the issue of out-of-school children, he said the poor parents also yearned to see their children educated and excelled and expressed the hope that the prime minister would play his role to change their fate.
