PM links education push with merit-based reforms at Gilgit event

GILGIT: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday said that Pakistan would expand its Daanish school model across the country to provide educational opportunities to talented students from low-income families.

Addressing a ceremony in Gilgit where laptops were distributed to students under a merit-based scheme, Sharif said the government wanted to ensure that financially disadvantaged but high-achieving students had access to quality education and modern facilities.

“Talented and capable children are Pakistan’s pride,” Sharif said, adding that the Daanish school network, first launched during his tenure as chief minister of Punjab, would now be expanded nationwide following what he described as its success in the province.

The prime minister said the schools should be equipped with modern educational facilities and recalled that the initiative had initially faced criticism when introduced in Punjab.

“At that time there was severe criticism, but today these institutions are producing results,” he said.

Sharif told students that the laptops distributed under the government scheme were not a favour but recognition of their academic merit and hard work. He said the devices had been awarded strictly on merit, particularly to deserving students from financially weak backgrounds.

“The students earned these laptops through hard work,” he said, adding that parents and teachers also deserved appreciation for their role in the students’ achievements.

Sharif, who is on a visit to Gilgit-Baltistan, described the mountainous northern region as one of Pakistan’s most beautiful areas and said he had travelled there to meet “talented, hardworking and capable” students.

He also reiterated his longstanding emphasis on merit-based governance, saying he had “never compromised on merit” during his political career.

The prime minister referred to what he described as a “solar panel scandal,” saying Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) Chairman had suggested conducting a transparent auction of confiscated solar panels so proceeds could go to the national treasury.

Sharif said he instead directed authorities to send the solar panels to Gilgit-Baltistan so local residents could benefit from them.

On foreign affairs, Sharif claimed Pakistan had played an important diplomatic role in preventing a conflict between Iran and the United States, saying both the political and military leadership remained engaged “day and night” with Washington and Tehran.

“Pakistan maintained continuous contact with both sides to help avert war,” he said, without providing further details.

Pakistan has in recent years sought to position itself as a regional diplomatic interlocutor amid tensions involving neighbouring Iran and broader geopolitical instability in the Middle East.