Second Danish School opens at Hasilpur

Chief Minister Punjab says government committed to providing quality education facilities to the children of the poor.

BAHAWALPUR: Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif on Thursday inaugurated second Danish School in the province in Hasilpur.

Addressing the ceremony, he said that the government was committed to provide quality education facilities to the children of the poor. He said he intended to open Dansih Schools all over the country. “We can build a strong Pakistan only by ensuring that children of the poor also get a chance to attend prestigious education institutions,” the chief minister said. He said only promotion of education could make sure that the country progressed and realised its potential.

Sharif criticised those opposing the Danish Schools project. He said he would face all objections raised by his opponents because he supported the poor and wanted to promote their welfare. He said he was serving the poor by building Danish Schools and that it was not a crime.

He said Danish schools would bring about a revolution in the society. “I take full responsibility for this project, he said. He said that by serving the country and excelling in their careers the Danish school students would prove that he had taken the right decision. He said he would keep serving the poor in accordance with the teachings of Islam.

Sharif said he would keep working to build a just society. Ensuring equality of opportunity, he said, was the only way to establish such a society.

Referring to the Bank of Punjab scam, he said if the Rs50 billion had not been stolen he would have spent them to set up more Danish Schools in the province. Sharif said the country needed to stop relying on foreign loans. He said survival as a nation would become very hard unless the country limited itself to its own resources. The ceremony was attended by representatives of several foreign missions and the United Nations; vice-chancellors of the Punjab University, the University of Engineering and Technology and the Islamia University Bahawalpur; Sindh’s senior minister Pir Mazahar-ul-Haq and senior adviser to the Chief Minister Sardar Zulfiqar Ali Khosa.

Students admitted to the school and their parents were also present. The students presented a tableau, national and folk songs during the event.

So far, 110 boys and 110 girls have been admitted to class 6th, in separate sections. The building has been built over 400 acres in Hasilpur, 100 kms from Bahawalpur.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 4^th, 2011.