HEC to award 600 PhD scholarships for natives of Balochistan

Higher Education Commission (HEC) has planned to award 600 scholarships for Masters leading to PhD for natives of the Balochistan province. The federal government has recently approved a project under the “Aghaz-e-Haqooq-e-Balochistan Package” on August 30, at a cost of Rs 3,138.692 billion.
The project is focused towards providing opportunities for access to higher education, to the financially constrained youth of Balochistan, who despite possessing academic merit are unable to continue their further education.
The scholarship would cover tuition costs, accommodation and living expenses of the selected candidates.
The project would supplement the efforts of the government of Pakistan to focus on human resource development in the country.
It would also provide incentives to talented students of
Balochistan to achieve excellence in their area of interest and ensure availability of trained man-power for research and development in the country, in basic sciences, agriculture, life sciences and engineering and technology, arts, languages and social sciences.
The project would be greatly helpful in covering two important aspects: recognition of merit and ensuring parity at national level which would lead towards national integration, cohesion and strengthening bonds of fraternity.
Balochistan is comprised of 30 districts and each district would get its share of foreign and indigenous scholarships on the basis of its population.
Up to 25% scholarships have been reserved for in-service government, R&D organizations/faculty members and employees of universities, colleges/ degree awarding institutes and the remaining 75% will be awarded on open merit.
The interesting feature of this scholarship program is its eligibility criteria which will directly target inhabitants of
Balochistan, as the candidate must have studied/obtained at least two certificates/degrees from HEC recognized universities/DAIs located in the Balochistan province.
Preference would be given to disciplines related to the economic and social needs of the province, i.e. mining, petroleum, marine and fisheries and agriculture etc.
The scholars after completing their Ph.D degrees would be required to serve in Balochistan for at least five years so that educational institutions and industry of the province might get maximum benefits from their knowledge and expertise.
The project would be advertised soon in leading newspapers of the country.
The main initiatives include special scholarship schemes for the faculty and youth of Balochistan, establishment of a well-equipped regional centre at Quetta, increasing the number of universities from two to seven and establishing the first women’s university of Balochistan.
HEC has launched special projects for the development of basic infrastructure in the higher education institutions of the province including labs, class rooms, seminars rooms, transport facilities, digital libraries, video conferencing facilities etc.
HEC has already awarded 1200 scholarships to students of the Balochistan project, “Provision of Higher Education Opportunities for Balochistan and FATA” during the last four years.
Under the second and new phase of the project, 1300 scholarships would also be awarded to students of Balochistan and FATA.