ISLAMABAD (GNP): National Press Club (NPC), Islamabad, and Roots Millennium Schools have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) giving the children of NPC members reduced education fees. NPC President Abdur Razzaq Sial and Roots Millennium founder and CEO Dr Faisal Mushtaq signed the agreement at a ceremony held at the club.
Under the deal, NPC members will receive 50 percent off admission fees, 20 percent off tuition fees and 50 percent off security fees. The arrangement is intended to ease the burden on journalists’ families and put quality schooling within easier reach of their children.
NPC Finance Secretary Abid Abbasi, Joint Secretary Shakeela Jalil, Syed Zaigham Naqvi, Nasir Aslam Raja and other members attended.
Sial thanked Dr Mushtaq for extending the facility to journalists and said the club is actively seeking partnerships with institutions to secure the best possible benefits for members and their families. He called the agreement a further step for member welfare, praised the concession as commendable since every parent wants good schooling for their children, and described Roots Millennium as one of Pakistan’s leading educational institutions.
NPC Secretary Dr Furqan Rao noted that club members live in districts all over the country and urged that the agreement apply at every Roots Millennium campus so that all members’ children can benefit. Abbasi thanked the school’s management and hoped the deal would help journalists and their families.
Dr Mushtaq thanked the NPC’s leadership and members, saying access to quality education is a core priority for his institution. Because journalists contribute to public awareness, social consciousness and democratic values, he said, helping educate their children is a worthwhile social step.
He recounted that his mother began her work in education nearly four decades ago, and that a school opened in Rawalpindi in 1988 with 40 students. It has since grown into a network of 75 campuses nationwide, covering early childhood through higher levels of learning. Beyond conventional teaching, he said, the schools emphasise technology, robotics, STEM, foreign languages, sports, teacher training and international opportunities, and guide students toward national and international programmes and university admissions.
Education, he said, should be seen as a service to society rather than simply a business. The institution offers scholarships to deserving and talented students, and its foundation works to strengthen government schools and raise their standards.
Dr Mushtaq said technology and artificial intelligence are opening new avenues in education but can never fully replace the human bond between teachers, parents and children. Schools, he argued, should adopt modern tools while giving equal weight to children’s emotional and mental development, social upbringing and relationships.
Recalling the COVID-19 pandemic, he said school and university closures worldwide created unprecedented challenges, disrupting the education of roughly 1.6 billion children and driving a major expansion of online learning. The spread of ChatGPT, large language models and other digital platforms has since changed traditional teaching, he said, yet experience showed that online learning alone cannot meet children’s educational, social and emotional needs.
He warned that excessive screen time and needless use of phones and the internet cannot be ignored, and said parents should monitor not just their children’s access to devices but also their activities, well-being and emotional growth. Students in Grades Six to Eight at Roots Millennium have been given laptops, he added, with technology meant to serve as a learning tool while teachers, family guidance and social development keep their essential roles.
Dr Mushtaq said NPC members will also be offered discounted access to other educational brands linked to the institution, though the exact concessions may differ by campus and programme.
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The ceremony ended with the NPC leadership thanking Dr Mushtaq and Roots Millennium’s management, and voicing hope that the partnership will contribute meaningfully to the welfare of journalists and a brighter future for their children.
Sohail Majeed is a Special Correspondent at The Diplomatic Insight. He has twelve plus years of experience in journalism & reporting. He covers International Affairs, Diplomacy, UN, Sports, Climate Change, Economy, Technology, and Health.
