US pledges Rs3.8b for education

ISLAMABAD: US Ambassador to Pakistan Anne W Patterson announced on Wednesday a grant of Rs3.8 billion for university students from internally displaced families.

More than 7,000 university students stand to benefit from this grant provided by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). “We consider this contribution to be a valuable investment in Pakistan’s future,” Patterson said at a ceremony held at the head office of the Higher Education Commission of Pakistan (HEC). Nauman Aman, hailing from Batkhela in Malakand, is currently studying for an MBA at the IM Sciences University, Peshawar.

“After my father passed away, I could not pay for my education. So I had to take a semester off to work and save up for tuition fee. For students like me this is a blessing,” he told The Express Tribune. The grant complements a Rs7.2 billion cash grant to the Benazir Income Support Programme made in February 2010, and a Rs3.7 billion contribution to assist in resettling displaced people in November 2009.

Published in the Express Tribune, May 13th, 2010.