Academic excellence: HEC sends 80 students to Hungary on scholarship

10 PhD, 20 Masters and 50 Bachelors pupils sent off

A send-off ceremony was organised on Friday for students selected for the Stipendium Hungaricum Scholarship under the Higher Education and Scientific Exchange Programme. The scholarships have been awarded to 10 PhD, 20 postgraduate and 50 undergraduate students through the Higher Education Commission (HEC) administered programme.

Federal Education and Professional Training Minister of State Balighur Rehman was the chief guest on the occasion, while attendees included HEC Chairman Dr Mukhtar Ahmed, Hungarian Ambassador Istvan Szabo, as well as students and their parents.

Rehman expressed his appreciation of Hungary’s collaboration and its role in the promotion of higher education in Pakistan. “It is high on our government’s list of priorities, to promote joint collaborative student and faculty exchange programmes,” he said. He lauded the academic achievements of the scholars and urged students to make the most of the opportunity.

Reiterating HEC’s commitment to invest in education to create a well-trained workforce for the country’s economic uplift, Ahmed revealed that since HEC’s inception in 2002, the government has sponsored around two hundred thousand students.

The Chairman congratulated the students proceeding to Hungary and advised them to work hard. “If you do well, it will only bring you more opportunities,” he said, adding that “you will be acting as Pakistan’s ambassadors there.”

Expressing his appreciation of the support given by the Hungarian government, Ahmed said that the Higher Education and Scientific Exchange Programme, signed between  the HEC and the Ministry of Human Capacity – Hungary, has been initially launched for three years and that 80 students have been sent under the programme, annually.

He informed the attendees that the Hungarian government is going to double the number of scholarships awarded, from next year. He noted that though Hungary has a population of only 10 million, it has produced a multitude of Nobel Laureates. Hungarian scientists have made some of the most significant inventions in the field of science and technology, he maintained.

Terming the students’ ‘send-off’ a milestone in the bilateral relations between the two countries, the Hungarian Ambassador said that its government is pursuing long-term investment in inter-state relations under such programmes. He then encouraged the selected students to bring back rich experiences of Hungarian culture.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 6^th, 2016.