Daanish University project picks up steam as legal framework in the works

Islamabad:Just two weeks after its foundation stone was laid by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in Islamabad, the wheels are turning on plans to establish the Daanish University of Applied and Emerging Sciences.

Successful global education models are under consideration to develop a world-class university focusing on research, development and applied sciences, according to law minister Azam Nazir Tarar. “A comprehensive legal framework is in the works to create an ideal learning environment at the Daanish University,” Tarar told a meeting at the law ministry for the Rs60 billion initiative.

The minister insisted that the legal structure of the university would be developed along modern lines to align with the standards of the world’s top universities. He said that efforts were under way to finalise the legal framework at the earliest to ensure the timely implementation of the project. Tarar declared that the Danish University would function as an autonomous institution, free from government control, with admissions offered "purely on merit."

The participants, including Higher Education Commission chairman Dr Mukhtar Ahmad and senior officials from education and law ministries, also discussed the establishment of an endowment fund for the university, aimed at providing quality and internationally recognised education to talented students facing financial difficulties. They agreed that the Danish University, with top-tier faculty and research centres, would focus on research, development and applied sciences.

The Daanish University is a brainchild of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who, as the chief minister of Punjab, opened Daanish Schools across the province for gifted children from underprivileged areas whose parents could not afford their schooling, and later expanded the initiative to Islamabad and Azad Jammu and Kashmir.

It is a £190 million (Rs60 billion) project, funded by money recovered from real estate tycoon Malik Riaz by the UK’s National Crime Agency. The Supreme Court recently transferred these funds to the federal government, paving the way for the Daanish University’s establishment. The money is linked to the Al-Qadir Trust scandal, which led to the conviction of former prime minister Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi. If things go as planned, the university will offer admissions in August next year, according to officials. They said the university would operate under Daanish Trust, ensuring financial independence, with the government providing an initial Rs10 billion as seed funding.

The officials said students from affluent backgrounds would pay fees, while underprivileged students would receive free education. They said a board of governors, which had already been finalised, would manage the university's affairs, with no government role in its operations, allowing it to function autonomously.