The Government College University Lahore (GCU) gave away scholarships worth a record amount of Rs 20.127 million to the university’s deserving students besides cutting down its fees by 35 percent.
The scholarships were disbursed during 2011-12 among 939 needy students, who could not afford their academic expenses, stated the GCU Annual Scholarships Report presented by GCU Treasurer Shafiq Mughal to Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Muhammad Khaleeq-ur-Rahman on Saturday.
The VC, despite the severe financial crunch and budget cuts, allocated the record amount from the university’s budget and the GCU Endowment Fund Trust (EFT) and transparently disbursed it through the GCU Scholarships and Financial Aid Committee headed by Islamic Studies and Arabic Department Chairman Dr Sultan Shah. The report states that scholarships of Rs 16.05 million were given away from the GCU Budget while Rs 4.077 million were given to needy students from the donations of old Ravians to the GCU Endowment Fund Trust. “Many universities are being forced to cut their budgets while being given very few funds. But we cannot do the same with our students who are highly talented but cannot afford their academic expenses,” said Vice Chancellor Prof Khaleeq while commenting on the report.