ISLAMABAD: The Ministry of Federal Education has announced that the Daanish School in Kuri will be completed by the end of December 2025, with classes expected to begin in the new academic session starting March–April 2026.
Parliamentary Secretary for Education Farah Naz Akbar visited the under-construction school to review progress. Officials briefed her that 82 percent of the work had been completed and the project was moving ahead at full speed.
The Rs4.8 billion project, including Rs1 billion for land acquisition, was launched under the directive of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. It aims to provide free, quality education to underprivileged children, continuing the model first introduced in Punjab in 2010 when Mr Sharif served as Chief Minister.
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The parliamentary secretary said the Kuri project was on schedule and would be ready for classes to start in March 2026. She appreciated the efforts of the Ministry of Education and the Project Management Unit (PMU) for ensuring timely progress.
During her visit, Ms Akbar also planted a tree as part of the ongoing tree plantation campaign.
As part of the same initiative, six new Daanish Schools are under construction — three in Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) and three in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK). Work on five of these schools is already in progress: three in GB (Sultanabad, Ghanche, and Astore, with around 25 percent completion) and two in AJK (Bagh with 34 percent and Bhimbar with 33 percent progress).
On Friday, the Ministry of Education opened bids for a new school in Neelum, AJK, as well as three schools in Balochistan. Two additional schools will be built in Sindh, and one in Chitral.
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Recently, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif chaired a meeting and directed officials to speed up work on all ongoing Daanish School projects. He said providing quality education to talented and deserving students was one of the government’s top priorities.
The prime minister also ordered the installation of smart boards in classrooms, the setup of digital libraries, and transparent recruitment of teaching staff on merit.
In addition, a Daanish University will be established in Islamabad’s Sector H-16, with 100 acres of land already allocated by the Capital Development Authority (CDA) and approved by the federal cabinet.
