LAHORE: Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz has approved the Maryam Nawaz Centre of Academic Leadership pilot project, alongside plans to establish elite schools and improve access to clean drinking water in areas facing water quality issues across the province.
The approval was granted during a meeting chaired by the chief minister in Lahore, where officials also received approval to establish Aitchison College-level boys’ and girls’ schools in Punjab.
According to a briefing presented during the meeting, the first Maryam Nawaz Centre of Academic Leadership will be constructed on Wahdat Road in Lahore to provide modern educational facilities for both male and female students.
The proposed campus will feature a range of academic and sports facilities, including a state-of-the-art sports hall, hockey and cricket stadiums, as well as horse-riding facilities and a swimming pool for students.
Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz said the institution would have the capacity to enroll 5,000 male students and 5,000 female students, enabling a total of 10,000 students to receive education at the new academic center.
The initiative is part of the provincial government’s broader efforts to enhance educational standards by providing modern infrastructure and facilities comparable to those available at leading educational institutions.
In a separate meeting chaired by the chief minister, the Punjab government also decided to activate water bottling plants in areas where residents face problems due to poor-quality drinking water.
Under the plan, bottled drinking water will initially be transported by trucks to residents in Khushab, Dera Ghazi Khan, Bahawalpur, and Rahim Yar Khan, where water quality concerns have been identified.
The government further announced plans to install more than 2,000 water filtration plants across Punjab to improve access to safe drinking water for communities throughout the province.
Officials said the projects are intended to strengthen educational infrastructure while addressing public health challenges linked to unsafe drinking water, particularly in underserved and water-scarce regions.
The approved initiatives are expected to be implemented in phases, with the academic leadership center serving as a pilot project and the clean water program focusing first on the districts most affected by poor water quality.
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