PM gives Ahsan Iqbal one week to fix Islamabad schools

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has given Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal one week to resolve the problems facing federal government schools in Islamabad, after chairing a high-level review of school reforms on Wednesday.

According to the Prime Minister's Office, Shehbaz ordered officials to treat faults in school buildings as an emergency and to mobilise all available resources for repairs, saying a safe environment for students was the state's responsibility. He asked for faster work on buildings, curriculum and teacher training in every federal government school in the capital.

The meeting also ordered a free lunch programme for students in the city. The PMO said the aim was "to ensure the nutritional development of students in Islamabad."

Other instructions included installing smart boards in every government school at the earliest, building ramps at every school so students who use wheelchairs can enter, and improving medical facilities on campus. The prime minister said teachers should be given no duties other than teaching and that recruitment should be "solely on the basis of merit." Officials were told to promote solar power in government schools and to seek third-party validation of the work.

The session was told that 278 government buses already carry students in Islamabad. Shehbaz asked for the service's reach to be widened and for it to be outsourced. He also called for a strategy to turn the Federal Directorate of Education into "an effective and functional institution."

A survey report on the syllabus, school buildings and other matters, prepared after a September 2026 directive from the prime minister, was presented to the participants. According to the PMO, the briefing described problems at some of the schools surveyed but said most schools in the capital already have internet access, safe drinking water and computer labs. It also called for head teachers to be given more authority and for innovation to be encouraged.

Climate Change Minister Musadik Malik, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar, Education Minister Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui, Minister of State for Finance Bilal Azhar Kayani and senior officers from the relevant institutions attended.

The PMO posted about the meeting on X, describing the reforms as a combined push on infrastructure, curriculum and teacher training. Dawn reported that the prime minister ordered urgent reforms in Islamabad government schools, and Business Recorder reported the one-week deadline. The statements issued after the meeting did not give a cost estimate for the work or say how it would be funded.

The deadline puts pressure on Iqbal to report progress on the reforms.