Article:
Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif laid the foundation stone for five new danish schools in Quetta, Darra Adam Khel, Sibi, Qila Saifullah, Zhob, and Suhbatpur/Musakhel on January 8, 2026. He later announced two more in Chagai and Washuk. The estimated cost of these boarding schools is around 240 billion rupees. They are expected to become operational by March 2027, promising free residence, food, medical facilities, and basic necessities to bright students from underprivileged areas. This initiative is indeed a welcome move. However, the question remains whether this plan will only focus on magnificent buildings or lead to a genuine educational revolution. Balochistan, being a vast region with a sparse population and a severely underdeveloped education system, has long been a challenge to access quality education.
These schools can be a beacon of hope for thousands of children. However, the real question is whether this plan will be limited to merely building grand structures or genuinely transform the education system. The problem lies in prioritizing buildings over essential aspects such as human resources, curriculum alignment, continuous support, and sustainability. The annual expenditure on education per child in Balochistan is approximately 77,419 rupees, with most of it being spent on fake names, in contrast to Punjab, where it is around 31,961 rupees per enrolled student. Without dedicated, trained, and committed teachers, and without providing students with proper food, medical, and psychological support, these schools will likely become a mere facade over time. A few hundred children will be benefited, while millions of children will remain out of school.
Despite being a larger province by land area than Punjab, Balochistan has only 7-8 danish schools, which are unlikely to bring about a significant change in the entire province’s education system. Ignoring other districts would further exacerbate the sense of deprivation. According to recent statistics, approximately 280,000 children are out of school in the province, with thousands of schools either inactive or ghosted. The reports mention 3,694 inactive schools. Instead of squandering resources, a more effective model could be a comprehensive, sustainable, and centralized approach.
A suggested proposal is to use the 240 billion rupees to establish the “Balochistan Education City” in a selected, climate-friendly, and accessible location (such as Pishin, Sera Nao, Attozai Jarmat, or a suitable area near Quetta with ample land). This should not be a single school or a few buildings but a comprehensive educational ecosystem comprising top-notch schools, colleges, and universities. The country’s renowned institutions (LUMS, NUST, Aga Khan University, etc.) should be invited to collaborate and participate. The best teachers and staff from across the country should be attracted with modern residential facilities, such as new homes, schools for their children, hospitals, sports fields, and recreational centers, so that a teacher from Lahore or Islamabad does not have to worry about their family’s future.
Basic amenities should be available at the doorstep, and regular public transportation services should be established for students and teachers from across the province. Major hospitals should be invited to establish medical faculties, where medical students can study while treating patients from across the province. The existing institutions, such as the University of Balochistan, Balochistan University of Engineering and Technology, Bolan Medical College, Loralai Medical, Jhalawan Medical, Turbat Medical, degree colleges, and science colleges, should be relocated to this campus to create a cohesive system.
The newly constructed Bolan University of Medical and Health Sciences (Bolan Medical University) in Quetta, built at a cost of billions of rupees, should also be relocated to this education city, as its land cost alone was 5 billion rupees. This would enable the integration of all medical education under one roof, ensuring the efficient use of resources. This model would not only strengthen the danish schools but also stabilize the entire education system, addressing the teacher shortage and providing continuous support to students.
This would be a challenging task, but it is not impossible. A former Finance Minister, Miftah Ismail, had revealed that there are thousands of paper schools or “bogus” schools in Balochistan,
