Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif on Thursday said her government would establish 300 modern schools across the province and continue investing in education, describing equal access to quality learning as essential for reducing social disparities and fostering national development.
Addressing a ceremony held to inaugurate 10 campuses of the Nawaz Sharif School of Eminence in Arifwala, she announced that the provincial government was allocating Rs40 billion to improve public schools through the construction of classrooms and the provision of furniture, clean drinking water, washrooms, fans and other basic amenities.
The chief minister said the administration would distribute 100,000 laptops and award an additional 50,000 Honhaar scholarships to students across Punjab, adding that the scholarship initiative was designed to ensure that financial constraints do not deprive talented students of higher education opportunities.
She said the province’s youth possessed tremendous potential and that the government remained committed to equipping them with the tools and opportunities necessary to excel. Public schools, she added, were being upgraded into contemporary educational institutions capable of offering facilities comparable to those available in costly private schools.
Maryam said the provincial government would establish science, technology, mathematics, computer and information technology laboratories in public schools, along with Punjab’s first artificial intelligence laboratories. She encouraged students to acquire expertise in artificial intelligence, machine learning and robotics, saying such skills would play a pivotal role in the future job market.
Highlighting the response to the Nawaz Sharif School of Eminence project, she said nearly 5,000 applicants had competed for every 1,000 available seats. According to the chief minister, the institutions accommodate students from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds, including the children of police personnel and labourers, demonstrating that merit and talent transcend financial status.
She reiterated that the safety and education of Punjab’s approximately 130 million residents, particularly school-going children, remained among the government’s foremost priorities. She added that the fleet of green electric buses was being expanded to provide students with dependable and secure transportation services.
Expressing grief over the recent collapse of an under-construction building that resulted in the deaths of 14 children, Maryam termed the incident deeply distressing. She urged parents to exercise caution during the ongoing monsoon season and refrain from allowing children to visit unsafe locations.
The chief minister also voiced concern over accidents involving children falling into drains, railway tracks and uncovered manholes. She said provincial authorities had repeatedly instructed commissioners and deputy commissioners to ensure that open manholes were covered, although theft of manhole covers continued to pose a public safety challenge.
Maryam said Punjab Education Minister Rana Sikandar Hayat had also studied in a government school, describing it as evidence of the government’s confidence in the public education system. She added that the ongoing reforms represented only the beginning of a broader transformation of the province’s education sector.
She reaffirmed that the provincial administration would continue supporting students until they achieved their ambitions, saying education remained the most powerful instrument for creating opportunity and enabling social mobility.