151 students to leave for China scholarship

Chinese language scholarships will help train students for CPEC-related projects

LAHORE: In order to enhance the skills of students and train them for the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) related projects, the Punjab government will send 151 students to China on Thursday for a Chinese language scholarship programme.

On Wednesday, a ceremony was held for students who won the scholarship at the University of Education (UoE) Lahore. Punjab Higher Education Minister Syed Raza Ali Gillani was the chief guest of the ceremony and UoE Vice Chancellor Dr Rauf-i-Azam was also present on the occasion. The scholarship is part of collaboration between the UoE and the government of Punjab in which students are sent to China to learn the Chinese language.



Speaking at the ceremony, Gillani said the programme would help students get better job opportunities under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and these students would play the role of a bridge in different sectors between Pakistan and China. “The Punjab government has allocated Rs2.28 billion for the programmes to train students for CPEC related projects. The students need to work hard and make the country proud as they are the ambassadors of Pakistan,” he said.

He said the government was working to provide better education from primary up to the higher education.



Speaking at the ceremony, UoE Vice Chancellor Dr Rauf-i-Azam said the varsity, in collaboration with the Punjab government has sent so far 345 students to China. He pointed out that the scholarship programme had entered its fourth and last phase in which students were sent to China on scholarships to learn the Chinese language.



He said the scholarship was for two years and was launched in 2015. The university sent the first batch of 67 students in the first phase, 127 in second phase and 152 in the third phase. H said that fourth and final batch was of 151 students.

He said the government had established the scholarship for 500 students and as many as 9,000 students had applied for the scholarship.

“We can proudly claim that we have selected best of the best from thousands of students to ensure merit,” he added. The minister also distributed laptops among students.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 2^nd, 2017.