PM launches scholarship programme for 200,000 undergraduates

ISLAMABAD, Nov 4 (APP):Prime Minister Imran Khan Monday said Ehsaas Undergraduates Scholarship Programme would drive the country’s poor and talented youth to get education and achieve excellence.

Speaking at the launching ceremony of the largest-ever undergraduates scholarship programme here, he said the people had no idea what a big change this programme would bring in the society.

The prime minister lauded the efforts of his special assistant and Ehsaas Programme Chairperson Dr Sania Nishter for introducing the initiative, under which a total of 200,000 scholarships (50,000 per year) would be awarded to the needy and talented students during the next four years.

He said due to unemployment, the talented and intelligent youth of the country was developing intolerance and tendency toward negative practices. However, this scholarship programme would also help the deserving students to divert their energies toward positive sides.

The prime minister, in this respect, also shared his experience of establishing a world class NAMAL University in Mianwali, after he felt that youth of the area were indulging in unlawful activities for lack of economic and education opportunities.

He said 90% of NAMAL graduates, who belonged to poor families, were getting good jobs in the relevant fields and their living standard also improved.

He said 50 to 55% of the students of NAMAL, which was affiliated with UK’s Bradford University, got first division as against Bradford where this number stood at 10 to 12 percent.

He said undergraduates scholarship programme would also help eliminate the class-based colonial education system from the country under which the elite got education from English medium institutions, while others went for education from Urdu medium schools and madaris.

The prime minister, who was very much appreciative of the Ehsaas Scholarship Programme, hoped that the government scholarships would be awarded on merit and on the basis of aptitude tests, like done in Germany and France.

He also appreciated the allocation of 50% and 2% quotas for women and disabled, respectively, and said the role of women had been vital in the upbringing of children as educated women had a lot of impact on children. He said his mother also greatly influenced him in getting education.

He said the philosophy behind the Ehsaas Programme was the State of Madina, which took care of the poor and downtrodden segments of the society.

The prime minister said since the state was responsible for the provision of health and education facilities, the government had already launched the Health Card Scheme in various parts of the country under which a health-cover of Rs720,000 per annum was being provided to the poor families. The scheme would be extended across the country, he added.

Similarly, he said, the government had also established ‘Langar Khanas’ under the Ehsaas Programme to provide food to the poor.

The prime minister said the government was working on a ‘Ration Programme’ under which basic food items including wheat flour, ghee, pulses and sugar would be provided to the poor at their doorsteps.

The Ration Programme would be launched after thorough analysis of database so that there was no misuse of the scheme and only deserving people would get ration.

Federal Minister for Education Shafqat Mehmood said the Ehsaas Scholarship Programme would bring transformation in the field of education as students from low-income families would have access to academic institutions.

He expressed satisfaction that the students of Madaaris would also be given scholarships along with their counterparts at regular institutions and said the step would remove disparity among different socio-economic segments of the society.

He said efforts were afoot to introduce a uniform academic syllabus at public and private schools and Madaaris across the country.

Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation Dr Sania Nishtar said the Ehsaas For Students was the history’s biggest scholarship programme, which would prove to be a paradigm shift in education sector.

She said Ehsaas Undergraduate Scholarships programme was a revolutionary programme for those students who could not continue their education due to financial constraints.
She mentioned that earlier scholarship policies focused more on higher education and lacked providing assistance to undergraduates.

Besides merit, she said the criteria of Ehsaas Scholarship in addition to tuition fee, would also include a stipend to meet living expenses – Rs 750 for boys and Rs 1,000 for girls.

Sania Nishtar said fifty percent of the scholarships would be given to girls students while two percent had been reserved for disabled students.

She mentioned that Higher Education in last 15 years gave 29,000 scholarships to undergraduate students while the Ehsaas project would provide 50,000 scholarships in one year and 200,000 in four years as approved by Prime Minister Imran Khan.

She said Ehsaas Scholarship would receive applications from the students of four provinces, Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit Baltistan with family income of less than Rs 45,000.

Sania Nishtar invited the eligible students to visit the HEC Portal and benefit from the revolutionary step of the government to make education affordable across the country.

She also mentioned several ongoing socio-welfare projects being carried out under the umbrella of Ehsaas programme.