Nawaz Sharif School of Eminence and Maryam Nawaz's Educational Vision

Education is every child's fundamental right, and the state is responsible for educating every child. It is also the state's responsibility to utilise all available resources for this purpose. A society can only progress if the basic education of its children is improved and of high quality, because children who receive good and quality education become the heroes of tomorrow. The requirements of basic education in the world are changing rapidly. Keeping international education standards in mind, the Punjab government is working rapidly to introduce innovation in the province's schools. Government schools in Punjab are no longer improving merely in words; rather, a clear transformation is visible on the ground. Chief Minister of Punjab Maryam Nawaz has introduced a new school chain in the province for education in the form of the Nawaz Sharif School of Eminence project. In its first phase, 110 schools have become operational, in which 175,311 children have registered. Among them, after passing a written examination, 53,058 children have been admitted, while testing for the admission of the remaining children is ongoing. In the second phase, 125 sites have been allocated, and MoUs have been signed with 117 schools. In government schools, the government spends 6,000 rupees monthly on a single child, whereas in Eminence Schools, the cost per child will be only 4,500 rupees. Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz's vision is that she wants to offer the son of a labourer and a farmer in Punjab the exact same education that elite children receive in expensive private schools. Nawaz Sharif Schools of Eminence have also become fully functional in remote cities of Punjab. These schools are now completely 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. In these schools, children are being provided basic education in AI and modern technology. Classrooms at the Nawaz Sharif School of Eminence are fully carpeted. Facilities such as electric boards, IT labs, bio labs, AI education, STEAM labs, robotics labs, and digital libraries are also available in these schools. Activity-based education is being provided to children in Eminence Schools, where outdoor activities will also take place, and a major portion of education will rely on electric boards. If the Punjab government were to establish these 300 schools using its own resources alone, it would have cost 100 billion rupees, whereas under the public-private partnership, the government will spend only 8 billion rupees. The quality of education in Eminence Schools will be even better than expensive private schools. In all schools, 100 per cent of students are provided free education. The quality of education and facilities in the Nawaz Sharif School of Eminence are superior to those of any top-tier private school. Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz's vision is that she wants to offer the son of a labourer and a farmer in Punjab the exact same education that elite children receive in expensive private schools. Under the vision of Chief Minister Punjab Maryam Nawaz, 300 Nawaz Sharif Schools of Eminence are being established in Punjab. This target will also be achieved in the third phase. For the first time in Punjab, Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz has multiplied the education budget. For the years 2026 and 2027, an education budget of 750 billion rupees has been allocated in Punjab, whereas the previous government allocated an education budget of 441 billion rupees in 2021. Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz's government allocated 15 billion rupees for the Honhaar Scholarship Program; under this program, scholarships have been awarded to 108,054 children in Punjab, while 39,000 laptops have been distributed. In the first phase, 72,344 children qualified for laptops, and in the second phase, 102,501 students qualified. There is a plan to distribute a total of 500,000 laptops over five years. For the upcoming years, there is a plan to provide approximately 50,000 scholarships annually and 25,000 stipends for colleges. Chief Minister of Punjab Maryam Nawaz allocated 40 billion rupees for building additional classrooms and restoring buildings in Punjab's government schools, under which upgradation work is progressing rapidly in government schools across the province. Boundary walls, washrooms, and the supply of clean drinking water in government schools are top priorities. Work on this project is proceeding rapidly without discrimination. An amount of 9 billion 90 crore (9.9 billion) rupees has been allocated for establishing 244 new IT labs in Punjab's government colleges, under which new IT labs are being set up in state colleges across Punjab. Chief Minister Punjab Maryam Nawaz's School Meal Program is also continuing successfully. Under this program, 1,100,372 children are benefiting. Children in D.G. Khan, Muzaffargarh, and Rajanpur are particularly benefiting from this program, as reports of malnutrition among children in these areas had surfaced. Following this, the Chief Minister of Punjab launched the program personally by visiting D.G. Khan. Under this program, 60.54 million milk packets and 21.77 million biscuit packets have been distributed across 13 districts. Very positive results are emerging from this program, and children's growth is increasing rapidly. If a child is mentally and physically strong, they will be able to perform better in the field of education. Chief Minister of Punjab, Maryam Nawaz, wants to provide the children of Punjab with all the facilities they need according to modern requirements. In several of her speeches, Chief Minister of Punjab Maryam Nawaz has stated that Punjab's resources belong to the youth of Punjab; they should dream, and Maryam Nawaz will fulfil their dreams. In reality, Chief Minister of Punjab Maryam Nawaz has acted like a mother to provide the youth of Punjab with all the facilities they desire. Using its own resources, the Punjab government has also awarded laptops and scholarships to children from other provinces. We want other provinces to also distribute laptops, scholarships, and electric bikes to youth just as Maryam Nawaz is doing. Today's youth are fed up with the politics of chaos, hatred, and division. The youth want to move forward, progress, and bring honour to the country's name. For this, they need leadership with a vision like Maryam Nawaz. The writer is the Provincial Minister of Education, Punjab.