ISLAMABAD: The Higher Education Commission (HEC) has awarded scholarships to as many as 3,000 Afghan students under Allama Muhammad Iqbal Scholarship Programme.
According to details, these students would pursue their higher education in different universities of the country in various fields including medicine, engineering, agriculture, management, computer science, and others.
According to HEC Chairman Dr Mukhtar Ahmad, the scholarships would be awarded to Afghan students over a period of five years. He said that out of a total 3,000 scholarships given on open merit, around 2,400 would be provided to undergraduates, while 600 scholarships would be made available to postgraduate students.
Furthermore, the chairman said that the Afghan ambassador had also requested the Pakistan government for allocation of 100 scholarships, especially for girls, as the literacy rate of women in Afghanistan was presently very low. These scholarships would be provided to Afghan students as a goodwill gesture and to support nation-building efforts in the neighbouring country.
In the first phase, launched in 2009 through Ministry of Education and Ministry of Inter-provincial Coordination, around 3,000 scholarships were provided to Afghan students who had completed their studies and returned to their homeland.
The chairman said that the HEC, in collaboration with Afghanistan Ministry of Education, had conducted tests in Afghanistan and selected students for phase-II scholarships which will be given away shortly. The merit lists for MPhil and PhD programmes are being currently finalised as part of the ongoing process, he added.
Dr Mukhtar maintained that the HEC believed in nurturing strong inter-institutional relations between neighbouring countries due to which the commission invited faculty members from Afghan universities to stay and work in Pakistan. He further reiterated that the HEC would provide support in quality assurance and human resource development to Afghanistan’s education system.
He advised Afghan students that in view of the vulnerabilities that the two nations had faced since 1979, it was the time that they diverted their energies towards more constructive activities.