Under the federal government’s Ehsaas undergraduate scholarship programme, 122,744 students have applied for financial assistance to pursue post-high school education in government colleges. There are 135 public-sector colleges in the country. Now the portal set up for the purpose has been closed. It was opened on Sept 30 last year. Scholarships will be awarded after scrutiny of the applications is completed over the next three months.
The large number of applications submitted for the merit-cum-poverty scholarship indicates that students in Pakistan are desirous of getting education beyond high school. Further, out of this notable figure, there are more than 50,000 girls. This shows that females equally aspire to obtain higher education. Overall, the trend is encouraging because this demonstrates that students, parents and the general public realise the importance of education, and the state is giving them a helping hand in making their dreams come true. Experience shows that many intelligent students are hampered in their efforts to get into college to obtain a graduate degree due to lack of means. Now students coming from low-income families won’t be deprived of higher education.
A college education has become more important than ever before. Educated people are needed to carry out tasks of modern times. Higher and college education enables families to break from the trap of generational poverty. However, many a meritorious student is left on the wayside because of their families’ economic circumstances. This compels them to work to help their families in meeting their needs. No more so. Most countries in the world now provide scholarships to the needy students in order to enable them to pursue studies at various levels in view of the fact that education not only helps people to improve their lives, it is also good for society. Members of an educated society have greater realisation of the importance of working for the common good. Large or small numbers of students work even though they get scholarships to support their families and their own education. This number depends on the economic conditions of countries.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 9th, 2022.
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