ISLAMABAD, 12 August 2026 (Ghufran): Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has announced Pakistan’s first National Youth Policy, featuring a 35 percent quota for women in the labour force and a 10 percent quota to support youth startups.Speaking at a ceremony in Islamabad on International Youth Day, the prime minister said the policy would focus on creating equal educational and economic opportunities for young people.Prime Minister Shehbaz said Pakistan has millions of talented young people who can excel globally if provided with quality education. He stressed the need to bridge the gap between educational opportunities available to children from affluent and underprivileged families.

He said Daanish Schools were established as an alternative to elite educational institutions and announced that the network was being expanded to Gilgit-Baltistan, Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Balochistan.The prime minister added that free education would be provided at these institutions, with the quality of education comparable to that offered by elite schools.Prime Minister Shehbaz also announced that 1,000 students from across Pakistan would be sent to China on government funding to study information technology and artificial intelligence.He said Pakistani students had previously been sent to China on merit to receive modern agricultural education, adding that such initiatives would help equip the country’s youth with skills needed to compete in the global economy.