‘Development only possible through quality education’

US ambassador announces 500 scholarships for flood-affected students

ISLAMABAD:

Federal Minister for Planning Development and Special Initiatives Ahsan Iqbal on Tuesday stressed that only quality education and skills could drive the country toward progress.

"Pakistan is blessed with two-thirds of the young population and economic development is possible only when provided with the right ideas, technology, and relevant skill sets", he said during an event held here to mark International Women's Day.

The event was organised by Higher Education Commission (HEC) in collaboration with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

The event was aimed to announce over 500 scholarships for flood-affected university students, half of which will be awarded to female students. These scholarships will cover one academic year (three semesters) for students at 30 Pakistani universities.

Iqbal said that under vision 2025, Pakistan had embarked upon a journey to put Pakistan on the path of accelerated development by introducing the latest technology and introducing skill sets.

He further added, “We are witnessing an unparalleled change in human history as an investment in technology and higher education is a key for development.”

It is imperative for Pakistan to understand the direction of change to empower its youth with such skills that are relevant for its existence and progress in the future.

"We envisage providing bright opportunities to every segment of society to get a leading edge in knowledge. Partnership with USAID has always helped in creating more opportunities for underprivileged students in Pakistan”, the minister stated.

He complimented USAID and HEC for a strategic partnership in higher education in Pakistan.

HEC Chairman Dr Mukhtar Ahmed in his remarks appreciated the role of USAID in the socio-economic development of Pakistan. He said: “It is a matter of acknowledgement that the educational cooperation between Pakistan and the United States has a long history."

He emphasised that our female population was very dynamic and needed collective action to promote women's empowerment and gender equality in all aspects of society. He also appreciated the collective efforts of universities and NDMA in outreaching flood-affected people of Pakistan.

US Ambassador, Donald Blome, said that the US with the help of the Pakistani government supported women to thrive and contribute to the socio-economic development of Pakistan. “International women’s day is the call to accelerate the efforts to dismantle gender stereotypes,” he said.

He apprised the audience that since 2004, USAID had awarded more than 6000 scholarships to high-achieving and financially needy students, and, since 2014, 60 per cent of those scholarships had been awarded to women.

Educational opportunities can unlock their potential and empower them and contribute to the economy, promoting socio-political stability.

He acknowledged the efforts of NDMA and the government of Pakistan to partner with USAID in providing life-saving humanitarian assistance to flood-affected Pakistanis.

Ambassador Blome announced additional 500 scholarships for flood-affected students under merit and needs-based programmes.

Earlier, in her opening remarks Dr Shaista Sohail congratulated USAID on building a sustainable scholarship management model for partner institutions and contributing to merit and need-based scholarships in promoting gender equality.

She said that since its inception, HEC is committed to women's empowerment and the provision of equal opportunities to women in higher education, as educated women guarantee a prosperous nation.

It is encouraging that USAID has reserved half of the scholarships for women. With the help of USAID, university education for thousands of underprivileged students has become a reality.

Minister calls for education reforms

Meanwhile Ahsan Iqbal has called for major reforms to improve country’s outdated education system.

He was addressing a two-day event titled "Decade of Learning" organised by the British High Commission in collaboration with UKaid on Tuesday. The minister said, “Our education management system is poor and it needs to be revamped by improving our teacher training, better curriculum and examination system.”

The minister said that he also had asked the education minister to hold a national summit to discuss and propose curriculum reforms and measures to improve the examination system.

He recalled that he as a minister of planning had moved a Vision 2025 setting ambitious but achievable targets to be attained by 2025 but after a change of government, the new government threw the whole agenda out of the window.

He said the lack of stability and continuity of policies was one of the major challenges in Pakistan's development process.

Iqbal suggested that they needed to develop a strong voice for our citizens. This would have great significance in case, if there is a change in government, the people would be able to force the new government to continue with the policies that are in the greater public interest. The changes which are in the interest of the country should not be thrown out of the window.

This is the need of the hour to voice strongly in favor of reforms, remarked the minister, while highlighting the key initiatives taken by the government particularly in the education sector. 

Published in The Express Tribune, March 8^th, 2023.