‘Let your children choose what they want to study’

A Pakistani student, Aleenah Masood has been selected for the “Erasmus Mundus Scholarship 2012” by the European Union (EU). Aleenah had been studying BS social sciences at Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Institute of Science and Technology (SZABIST) Islamabad campus, and is one of the two Pakistani students chosen for the scholarship this year. She had been selected on the basis of her deep interest and excellent academic record in the subjects of arts.
While speaking to agencies, Aleenah said that the discipline of science was not the only road to academic excellence and students of humanities could do equally well provided their potential was effectively harnessed.
The student received the scholarship in the field of social sciences and humanities to study at Lund University in Sweden, which is one of Europe’s most prestigious universities and Scandinavia’s largest institutions for education and research, consistently ranked among the world’s top 100 universities.
The EU-sponsored scholarship is aimed at selecting and educating brilliant students from all over the world, who do not have enough resources to get quality higher education abroad.
Aleenah, who always found it hard to study science subjects, said that parents should not force their children to study science because it may not be every student’s cup of tea.
She believes that even art students could achieve great things and the country needed professionals other than scientists, doctors and engineers to work for the betterment of the country.
According to Aleenah, it is important that the students should have dedication and they should work hard to achieve excellence no matter what discipline they opt for.