First phase of the HEC scholarships has been successfully completed through Ministry of Education
Higher Education Commission Pakistan has announced 3,000 higher education scholarships to Afghan students under the Allama Muhammad Iqbal Scholarship Programme
The second batch of the scholarship has been offered after successfully completing the first phase. In 2009, first phase of the HEC scholarships through Ministry of Education and Ministry for Inter-Provincial Coordination for provision of 3,000 students.
Those Afghan national students, who wish to apply will follow their higher education criteria in different universities of Pakistan for the duration of five years.
The awardees of the first phase of the HEC scholarships have completed their respective studies in Pakistan and returned back to Afghanistan.
The award ceremony was hostedby Malik Muhammad Rafique Rajwana, Governor Punjab. Dr. Mukhtar Ahmed, Chairman HEC, Mr. Omer Zakhilwal, Ambassador of Afghanistan to Pakistan, Advisor to Minister of Education in Afghanistan Amanullah Faqiri and Mr. Zahid Nasrullah Khan, and Ambassador of Pakistan to Afghanistan in Lahore.
Dr. Mukhtar Ahmed, HEC Chairman, welcomed the students who had been selected on fully funded scholarships in top universities of Pakistan. He added that Higher Education Commission in partnership with the Ministry of Education Afghanistan conducted test in Afghanistan and selected these student
In Phase-II of scholarships as the first phase of award of scholarship has been completed. However, merit list for MPhil and PhD programmes is in pipeline.
As per Chairman HEC believed in person-to-person and institution-to-institution relations. “This is why we are working on inviting Afghan faculty members of their universities to stay, live and work here in Pakistan. HEC will provide support in quality assurance and human resource development of the Afghan education system.
Ambassador of Afghanistan to Pakistan, Omer Zakhilwal congratulated HEC for the ceremony and successful completion of Phase-I of the scholarship scheme and the launch of the second phase. He said Allama Iqbal was equally appraised, accredited and respected in Afghanistan as in Pakistan
He said the relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan were multidimensional. “We are celebrating one important dimension of student exchange. It is the desire and wish of our people to keep good relations with Pakistanis.”
He added that literacy rate of women in Afghanistan was very low. “That is why the government of Pakistan is offering 100 dedicated scholarships to women Afghan students. No nation can progress without providing education to their women”.
He added that the embassy of Pakistan to Afghanistan had a dedicated officer to provide assistance to Afghan students. He further stated that every month, the embassy of Pakistan to Afghanistan was issuing 3,000 visas monthly and 350,000 annually.