PM Shehbaz inaugurates Daanish School in Islamabad for talented students

What happened

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif inaugurated a Daanish School in Islamabad on Sunday, according to reports dated 18 October 2026. Radio Pakistan and Dawn spell the name “Daanish”, while Dunya News and Daily Times use “Danish”.

At the ceremony, the prime minister said the government is committed to empowering talented young people by giving them equal educational opportunities. According to Radio Pakistan, he said financial constraints are the biggest roadblock for millions of gifted boys and girls across the country. Dunya News reports that he said a child’s future should not be decided by the financial status of their parents, and that every talented child deserves equal access to quality education.

Background from the sources:

• The Daanish Schools network was set up in 2010. Dawn says the concept was introduced by the Punjab government and describes the network as said to be the largest network of boarding schools for girls and boys in the country. Dunya News and Daily Times refer to the programme’s launch in Punjab in 2010.
• Radio Pakistan reports that the network was meant to give underprivileged students from every corner of the country, including Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan, access to high-quality education at par with elite institutions.
• Dawn reports that the prime minister said the concept was meant to match the quality of Aitchison College and other grammar schools in Punjab and elsewhere in Pakistan, and to excel.
• Dawn says the foundation of the Islamabad school was laid in 2024, on 10 acres of land allocated by the Capital Development Authority.
• Dawn reports that in March thousands of students across Pakistan sought admission. The school received over 7,000 applications for just 210 seats.
• Dawn says the school’s board of governors approved a budget of Rs3.8 billion for the year 2026-27 earlier this year.

Dunya News and Daily Times report that the prime minister highlighted a girl from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa who lost her father in childhood, faced financial difficulties and went on to become a doctor. Dawn describes a woman from Bahawalpur who became a doctor after losing her father in childhood, and a young man on stage who also became a doctor. Dunya News says documentaries and accounts of students’ achievements were presented at the ceremony. Dawn reports that the prime minister interacted with students on the campus and that Education Minister Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui also spoke. The Prime Minister’s Office posted that a new era of education was about to begin in the capital.

Reflecting on Pakistan’s creation in 1947, the prime minister said Muslims who migrated had left behind homes and assets hoping to build a society based on justice, merit and hard work. Dunya News reports that he called for a national self-assessment of how far the country has progressed towards the aspirations of its founders.

Students, parents, teachers, federal ministers, diplomats and senior officials attended the ceremony, according to Dunya News and Daily Times.

Who is affected

• Talented children from low-income, poor and marginalised families, including children in remote areas and underprivileged communities, according to Dunya News, Dawn and Daily Times.
• Students from every corner of the country, including Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan, according to Radio Pakistan.
• Millions of Pakistani families who struggle to meet basic household expenses, including parents working in difficult conditions on fields and farms, according to Dunya News.