Prime minister of Pakistan Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif had promised in March 2013 that Danish Schools would be set up in all four provinces of Pakistan. President of his party, Pakistan Muslim League - Nawaz (PML-N), he had said this while unveiling the party manifesto at the Lahore Press Club on March 7th, 2013 for the general elections in May 11, Dawn reported.
Danish Schools are part of an education project established in 2011 by the Pakistan Muslim League government in the Punjab province. Under the project, free education is provided to poor students. The Danish Schools were established with “a clear vision to fight poverty through educating gifted children of the underprivileged and vulnerable as well as providing them with a level playing field in society.”
The first of Danish Schools were set up in the Punjab province in the districts of Hasilpur, Bahawalpur and then in Bahawalnagar. The project, which started under the stewardship of the then-Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, younger brother of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, has been continued by the current PML-N government in Punjab. The school administration, according to its website, is “run on an act uniquely established for these schools called The Danish School Act.” A copy of this act can be found on the official website.
Pakistan Muslim League-N while unveiling the manifesto of their party before general elections on May 11, promised the nation that they it will establish Danish schools in all provinces of Pakistan. The promise is present in the manifesto of PML-N on page 38 stating that “Danish schools shall be set up in all provinces.”
Khalida Mehmood, deputy manager of academics for the Danish schools system, told Truth Tracker that the Danish Schools project is currently confined only to Punjab Province and that there was a plan to establish more branches only in Punjab.
“We don’t yet have any plan to establish Danish Schools in all provinces of Pakistan as the project is currently confined only to Punjab Province,” Mehmood told Truth Tracker by phone from Lahore.
Bushra Gohar, central leader of Awami National Party (ANP) which held power in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province from 2008 to 2012, believes that the PML-N government didn’t have the potential to establish the Danish School System in Punjab, let alone the rest of Pakistan.
“I believe the PML-N has not been very successful in realizing its commitment to establishing Danish Schools in Punjab where it has been in power for close to six years now,” she said. She termed the Danish School System a tool for political point-scoring.
“The provincial governments need to improve the quality and standards of existing government schools rather than starting politically motivated schools projects,” Gohar told Truth Tracker.
Zia Yousafzai, director of the Quid Education System, a private schooling project in the Dir District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, told Truth Tracker that establishing Danish Schools would help the needy and poor people but it should not be confined to just a promise. “Practical implementation is needed for such projects. They should not be just confined to traditional promises of Pakistani politicians.”
“The Danish School System should be established under the banner of the provincial governments of respective provinces and the federal government should provide funds for the project,” Yousafzai told Truth Tracker.
Muhammad Bilal Ghauri, a columnist writing for the Daily Jhang and Daily Mashriq, told Truth Tracker that all politicians made promises to the nation, but did little to fulfill them. “The promise from PML-N of establishing of Danish Schools in all provinces is as hollow as their promise of ending electricity load-shedding in six months, which has yet to be fulfilled,” said Ghauri.
“PML-N is busy establishing model towns, model police stations, model villages and model schools (Danish Schools) rather than giving serious attention to public institutions,” Ghauri told Truth Tracker.
He said: “PML-N should give special attention to the government sector schools rather than establishing schools for political purposes.”
PML-N central leadership including Khwaja Saad Rafiq and Khwaja Asif were contacted scores of times by Truth Tracker for their version regarding the promise of establishing the Danish School System in all provinces, but they were not available for comment.
Khwaja Muhammad Asif’s phone was switched off and Khwaja Saad Rafiq did not answer our calls. Truth Tracker, over the course of one week, made regular efforts to contact both Asif and Rafiq but they were not available.
The PML-N’s Ahsan Iqbal, Maryam Nawaz Sharif and Abid Sher Ali were asked via Twitter to comment on the said promise, but they did not respond.
Arbab Khyzer Hayat Khan, provincial leader of PML-N, was contacted by Truth Tracker but he said he didn’t have any idea about the Danish School System [whether work had started on the promise or not].
Truth Tracker tried to reach out to PML-N representatives to get their version of the story. They were either not available or chose not to respond to questions Truth Tracker directed to them through their social media accounts. Due to the nonavailability of PML-N leadership to answer questions regarding the promise, or respond to the account of Danish Schools official Khalida Mehmood, Truth Tracker believes that the promise to establish Danish Schools in all provinces has been broken.
Izharullah is Peshawar-based Freelance Journalist having expertise in online media.He has got Master degree in Media studies from University of Peshawar and currently pursuing specialization in the field of online media. Apart studies,he is currently working as a freelance reporter with International Relief and Development(IRD)-a joint project of USaid and Radio Pakistan and Independent Project Reporting-GIZ. He also occasionally cover special events for UAE based new wire Gulf News. Izhar is the proud Fellow of three months course on "Development Journalism" offered by GIZ with the support of University of Peshawar. Currently he is working as reporter with News Lens and UPI-Next for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.He also writes blogs for CNNireport.He also worked for UK-based online News website Thenewstribe for two years as web producer. He can be reach at @izhar2u and [email protected]
March 24, 2014
March 20, 2014
March 19, 2014
March 14, 2014
|