Higher studies, research: CIIT to give 50 scholarships a year for Baloch youth

Seats have been reserved in Inter-University Consortium member institutes

ISLAMABAD:

Comsats Institute of Information Technology (CIIT) will give 50 scholarships annually to the youth of Balochistan for higher studies at the institute.

This was announced by CIIT Rector Dr Junaid Zaidi during a meeting with Balochistan Chief Minister’s adviser on education Sardar Raza Barrech in Islamabad on Tuesday.

The institute will set aside over Rs40 million for provision of the scholarships, said an official privy to the meeting.

The scholarship will be given from the winter semester next year and doubled every year, Murtaza Noor, national coordinator Inter-University Consortium for Promotion of Social Science Pakistan (IUCPSS), told The Express Tribune on Wednesday.

Inter-University Consortium Chairman and Haripur University Vice-Chancellor Dr Nasser Ali Khan and other officials were also present on the occasion.

The rector assured all’-out cooperation’ to the Balochistan government for the establishment of a technology park in Quetta.

Khan said it has also been decided to allocate seats in each member university of the consortium for the students of Balochistan along with scholarships.

The Balochistan CM’s adviser appreciated the efforts of CIIT and the consortium in promoting higher education in the province.

He said such steps would be helpful in improving quality of teaching and research in higher education sector of the province and promoting inter-provincial harmony as well.

He believed that youth of the province would benefit from the PhD scholarship programme and after completion of their studies, they would contribute to socio-economic development of the country.

He said that a parliamentary delegation from Balochistan will visit CIIT soon to finalise the modalities of the scholarships and further cooperation between the institute and the province.

Meanwhile, Balochistan Chief Minister Dr Abdul Malik Baloch has thanked CIIT and the consortium for assisting his government and taking practical steps for improving higher education in the province.

The award of 50 scholarships each year would be helpful in overcoming shortage of educated human resource in the province. He said his government would continue to benefit from the expertise of the member institutes and partner organisations of the consortium in the future.

Master trainers’ training

Besides the scholarship programme, CIIT and the consortium are providing training to faculty members of six universities of Balochistan. Twenty-four faculty members from the six varsities are being imparted a two-week training of master trainers in curriculum development, research, teaching techniques and classroom management at the institute.

National and international experts from Britain and the United States are training them.

Heritage preservation

The consortium is also keen to preserve the heritage of Balochistan, a cradle of Mehergarh, one of the ancient civilisations of the world, Noor said.

Dr Ehsan Ali, vice-chancellor Khan Abdul Wali Khan University, Mardan, will lead a delegation of archaeologists to Balochistan next month to discuss with the provincial government the process of mapping, excavating and preserving archaeological sites.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 27^th, 2015.