ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif was informed on Tuesday that the construction work on Daanish School in Islamabad continued at full pace and the project will be completed by the end of this year.

The prime minister chaired a meeting on Daanish schools and Daanish University projects as the government has decided to construct 15 schools across Pakistan and a university in Islamabad.

One of the schools is being constructed at Kuri, Islamabad. The meeting was informed that the gray structure would be completed after a few weeks and the school would be ready by the end of this year.

The school project is worth Rs4.8 billion, including Rs1 billion for the acquisition of land.

Besides, work is in progress on two schools in AJK and three in GilgitBaltistan. The meeting was told that the education ministry will go for tendering process of six schools, which will be built in Balochistan after approval of the provincial development working party and subsequent approval of the central working party meeting.

The process for land identification is yet to be completed for setting up one school each in Karachi and Chitral.

The project management unit of the ministry of education has been executing the school projects while a dedicated company will be set up for the university project.

`Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday directed expeditingwork on the under-construction of Danish Schools and university and said the establishment of these institutions across the countryfor provision of quality education to the deserving and brilliant students was among the top priorities of the government,` said a press release issued by the Prime Minister Office.

It said that chairing a review meeting on the construction of 15 new Daanish schools and the Danish University, the prime minister also asked for quality construction work and their third party validation.

The meeting was attended by Minister for Planning Ahsan Iqbal, Minister for Education Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui, Minister for Economic Affairs Ahad Khan Cheema, provincial chief secretaries, Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir, chief commissioner of Islamabad and other authorities.

The prime minister directed for installation of smart boards in all the classrooms, establishment of digital libraries and merit-based and transparent appointment process for the teaching staff in these schools.

He said local eligible teaching staff should be given priority and directed for submission of proposals for the establishment of the Danish Authority.

It said the meeting was told that 41 per cent construction work on Daanish School Islamabad had been achieved which would be completed by December this year.

In Gilgit-Baltistan, work on Daanish schools in Sultanabad, Ghanche and Astore would be completed by June 30, 2026 whereas work on Bhimber and Bagh schools would also be completed in June 2026.

The feasibility and design of the Daanish schools in Sharda, Sibi, Musakhel and Zhob have been completed.

In Hub, Karachi and Chitral, work on acquiring land for Daanish schools is underway while with the federal cabinet`s approval, land for the establishment ofDaanish University had been allocated.

University project The meeting approved the feasibility of the university andinitiation ofthe process for the appointment of a consultant for the prequalification of its design.

The education ministry has started process for hiring a consultant for feasibility study ofthe proposed university.

Sources in education ministry stated that once hired the consultant will complete the feasibility study (geo-tech, topographic, hydrological study and techno feasibility) in a month.

Meanwhile, the ministry has also floated advertisements for prequalification of firms for designing and supervision of the university project.

The sources stated that on May 29, bids of prequalification firms would be opened and then after one week the firms would be prequalified.

When the feasibility study will be completed, financial bids for prequalified of bidders would be called for designing and supervision ofthe project.

Officials in the education ministry stated that the university would be constructed from a portion of the 190 million pounds seized from a Pakistani property tycoon andreturned toPakistan.The sources said that roughly Rs25 billion would be spent on the project while the remaining amount would be utilised for other education projects.

The fund is still with ministry of finance and it will be transferred once a dedicated company is set up for construction of Daanish University.

During his visit to the university project site on March 15, the prime minister had stated that the university would not only become a model in the country but would also carve a niche among the world`s top educational centres on the basis of quality of education, research and development of applied sciences. i | I