Punjab establishes Nawaz Sharif Schools of Eminence for low-income students

What happened

The Punjab government, led by Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz and implemented through the Punjab Education Foundation (PEF), is establishing the Nawaz Sharif Schools of Eminence. The initiative aims to provide free, high-quality education to low-income families through a public-private partnership model.

Key details of the project include:

• The province-wide plan targets 300 schools, with two schools planned for every tehsil (one for boys and one for girls) [1].
• In Phase I, 110 schools are operational, with 175,311 children registered. Of these, 53,058 have been admitted after passing a written examination, while testing for the remaining children is ongoing [2].
• In Phase II, 125 sites have been allocated and MoUs have been signed with 117 schools [2].
• The third phase aims to reach the total target of 300 schools [2].
• Under the public-private partnership, the government expects to spend 8 billion rupees to establish these schools, compared to an estimated 100 billion rupees if built using only government resources [2].
• The cost per child in these schools is 4,500 rupees, compared to 6,000 rupees monthly in government schools [2].

Facilities in these schools include carpeted classrooms, electric boards, IT labs, bio labs, STEAM labs, robotics labs, AI education, and digital libraries [2].

Other related educational initiatives mentioned include:

• An education budget of 750 billion rupees has been allocated for 2026 and 2027 [2].
• The Honhaar Scholarship Program has awarded scholarships to 108,054 children, with 15 billion rupees allocated for the program [2].
• A plan exists to distribute 500,000 laptops over five years; currently, 174,541 students have qualified for laptops across two phases [2].
• The School Meal Program has distributed 60.54 million milk packets and 21.77 million biscuit packets across 13 districts [2].
• 9.9 billion rupees are allocated for 244 new IT labs in government colleges [2].
• 40 billion rupees are allocated for building additional classrooms and restoring government school buildings [2].

Who is affected

• Eligible students: Families with monthly incomes below Rs200,000 can apply for admission [1].
• Locations: Schools are functional in Attock, Bahawalnagar, Bahawalpur, Bhakkar, Chakwal, D.G. Khan, Faisalabad, Gujranwala, Gujrat, Hafizabad, Jhang, Kasur, Khanewal, Khushab, Kot Addu, Lahore, Layyah, Lodhran, Mandi Bahauddin, Murree, Muzaffargarh, Narowal, Okara, Pakpattan, Rahim Yar Khan, Rajanpur, Sargodha, Sheikhupura, Sialkot, Talagang, Toba Tek Singh, Vehari, and Multan [2].
• Beneficiaries of the School Meal Program: 1,100,372 children, with specific benefits noted in D.G. Khan, Muzaffargarh, and Rajanpur [2].