The Punjab government gave away a donation of Rs 50 million to Government College University Lahore Endowment Fund Trust (GCU EFT) on Tuesday. Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif had pledged the amount at the oath-taking ceremony of the Old Ravians Union.
Later in the day, GCU EFT Executive Committee Secretary Prof Dr Khalid Manzoor Butt handed over the cheque for Rs 50 million to GCU EFT Chairman and GCU Vice Chancellor Prof Ikramul Haq at a ceremony in the GCU Syndicate Committee Room. Butt told the GCU VC that with the induction of the amount released by the Punjab government the trust now has Rs 112 million. GCU VC Prof Ikram said that the amount would be spent on the education of deserving students and developmental projects of the university. He said that the universities across the globe had established their endowment funds with the help of their old students and the corporate sector. “Harvard University has an endowment fund of more than $ 35.474 billion, Yale has $ 20.225 billion and University of Virginia has an endowment fund of around $ 5 billion,” he added. He said that GCU was the only public sector university in Pakistan which had an active endowment fund which gave scholarships to deserving students.
He said around 2,500 GCU students applied for financial aid every year and owing to limited financial resources university failed to accommodate all the students. He said GCU EFT was established to bridge this gap. He said that GCU last year gave away scholarships of Rs 11 million to deserving students from its annual budget and would continue with the practice. He thanked the Punjab CM for his donation.
