Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz on Thursday inaugurated 10 Nawaz Sharif Schools of Eminence for the Sahiwal Division at Arifwala, describing the initiative as part of the provincial government’s drive to improve the quality of public education.
During the ceremony, the chief minister interacted with schoolchildren, accepted bouquets from them and spent time among the students. She later visited the newly established School of Eminence, where she inspected classrooms, the computer laboratory and the robotics lab.
The chief minister also reviewed the “Maryam Nawaz Sahara Robot”, developed by students of Pilot School, Lahore. She observed a live demonstration of the robot and was informed that it is capable of analysing the eye movements of stroke patients to interpret their responses. According to the briefing, the robot has undergone a successful one-month pilot trial at Lahore General Hospital.
Education Minister Punjab Rana Sikandar Hayat briefed the chief minister on the Schools of Eminence project. He said that 10,376 schools across Punjab have been upgraded, while student enrolment is projected to increase from 500,000 to over 1.025 million. The number of teachers, he added, has risen from 16,000 to 34,000, and the enrolment target has increased from 10 per cent to 100 per cent. The briefing further stated that the Punjab Education Foundation had expanded public-private partnership initiatives to benefit around four million students across the province.