ISLAMABAD – Pakistan’s youth agenda has been framed around promises of opportunity as Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is putting that vision into action with the country’s first National Youth Policy, as he also announced upcoming Daanish University Islamabad, designed to give talented young Pakistanis a merit-based pathway into modern and technical education.
براہِ راست:نوجوانوں کے عالمی دن کی تقریب میں وزیراعظم محمد شہباز شریف کی شرکت اور تقریب سے خطاب https://t.co/x0X31eDFB4
— Government of Pakistan (@GovtofPakistan) August 12, 2026
PM announced the launch of Daanish University Islamabad next year, placing the new institution at the centre of Pakistan’s first-ever National Youth Policy and the government’s wider push to expand merit-based, modern and affordable higher education.
Addressing an International Youth Day ceremony in Islamabad on Wednesday, the prime minister said the university would begin classes next year and would focus particularly on technical and modern disciplines. Admissions, he said, would be based on merit, allowing talented students from financially disadvantaged backgrounds to compete for quality higher education.
The announcement came as the government unveiled a broader youth policy designed to connect education with employment, technology and entrepreneurship, while expanding opportunities for young Pakistanis across the country.
Daanish University Islamabad is being positioned as a key component of the government’s effort to give talented students access to advanced education regardless of their economic background.
The initiative reflects the broader philosophy behind the Daanish education model: providing high-quality learning opportunities to students who might otherwise be excluded from elite educational institutions because of financial constraints.
Shehbaz Sharif argued that a child from a poor family should have the same opportunity to receive quality education as a child from a wealthy household. Referring to Aitchison College, he said children from disadvantaged families often could not even enter such prestigious institutions, a gap the Daanish system was established to address.
Daanish School network has already expanded across Punjab and is now being extended to Gilgit-Baltistan, Azad Kashmir and Balochistan, where students will receive free education. The prime minister said the standard of education at these institutions would be comparable to that of elite schools.
Under the policy, the government has announced a 35% quota for women in the labour force and a 10% quota for young people seeking to establish startups. The measures indicate a broader shift in the government’s approach to youth employment, with entrepreneurship being placed alongside traditional jobs as a pathway for young Pakistanis to enter the economy.
The education component of the policy also extends beyond Pakistan’s borders. The government will send 1,000 Pakistani students to China at state expense to study Information Technology and Artificial Intelligence. The programme builds on last year’s initiative, under which Pakistani students were sent to China for advanced agricultural education.
The government is also expanding its digital education initiatives. Another 250,000 Chromebooks will be distributed to students this year, according to the prime minister. Shehbaz Sharif said the government had already distributed 700,000 laptops on merit, stressing that the programme had been conducted without recommendations.
Shehbaz Sharif framed the new policy around Pakistan’s long-term future, saying the country was created by its elders in 1947 but that its youth would determine what Pakistan becomes in 2047.
