As many as 396 Sri Lankan students out of the 1,400 who applied for the scholarship have secured Allama Iqbal Scholarships under Higher Education Commission, Pakistan (HEC)’s project, Pak-Sri Lanka Higher Education Cooperation Programme.
In this regard, the HEC Pakistan in collaboration with the Pakistan High Commission in Colombo, Sri Lanka organised a joint pre-departure orientation and Scholarship Award Ceremony in Colombo. Under the Allama Iqbal Scholarships Programme, 237 Sri Lankan students are already studying in Pakistan.
Addressing the ceremony, the HEC Executive Director congratulated the scholarship awardees and highlighted the importance of Pak-Sri Lanka's long-lasting friendship. She shed light on the HEC functions and the objectives of the Pak-Sri Lanka Higher Education Cooperation Programme. “HEC has been putting efforts to increase access to higher education, enhance quality and ensure relevance,” she said and added that the Pakistani universities are emphasising soft skills given their significance in today’s world.
She briefed the audience about the other offerings of HEC for the academic fraternity of Sri Lanka, which included, a faculty exchange program, training of Sri Lankan senior civil servants in Pakistan, and the establishment of a centre of Asian Civilisation and Culture in Sri Lanka.
The event was attended by HEC Executive Director Dr Shaista Sohail, Director General (Scholarships) Aayesha Ikram, Project Director Jehanzeb Khan and the parents of the successful awardees. The Government of Pakistan launched the Pak-Sri Lanka Higher Education Cooperation Programme in 2018-2019. Under this programme, 800 fully-funded and 200 partially-funded Allama Iqbal Scholarships are being awarded to Sri Lankan students in all disciplines at BS, MS and PhD levels.
The Sri Lankan scholars and their parents took a keen interest in knowing about their brotherly country Pakistan and participated in the question/answer session with great enthusiasm. Sri Lankan alumni of Pakistani universities also expressed their views and shared with the scholarship recipients their experiences in Pakistani higher education institutions.
Earlier, the High Commissioner of Pakistan in Sri Lanka, Major General (retd) Umar Farooq Burki, shed light on the life and services of Allama Muhammad Iqbal, after whom the scholarship programme for Sri Lankan students has been named. He said the scholarship programme will bring the people of Pakistan and Sri Lanka closer and strengthen the brotherly bonds between them.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 17th, 2022.
COMMENTS
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ