USAID awards scholarships

Scholarships given to 250 students enrolled in recently-introduced 2-year ADE and 4-year BEd in Punjab.

LAHORE:

The US Agency for International Development (USAID) on Saturday awarded scholarships to 250 students enrolled in the recently-introduced two-year associate degree in education (ADE) and four-year bachelor’s in education (BEd) in Punjab.

“I am delighted to see such bright students from Punjab who have dedicated themselves to a life of learning, scholarship, and service,” said Jeffery Bakken, the US consul general in Lahore. “I am confident that the new comprehensive degree programmes and USAID scholarships will give us better-trained teachers and will bear fruit for years to come.”

Speaking on the occasion, Prof Samina Qadir, vice chancellor of Fatima Jinnah Women’s University, thanked the American people for providing the resources for the scholarship programme, which would ultimately improve the quality of education for thousands of Pakistanis.

The Punjab scholarship programme is part of the $75 million (Rs7.37 billion) USAID Teacher Education Project. USAID is also helping the federal government develop and implement curricula for the BEd and ADE. A total of 1,900 students across Pakistan will be awarded scholarships under this project. More than 250 scholarships were awarded to students in Punjab previously.

“The USAID basic education programme seeks to bring 3.2 million children to reading at or above grade level over the next five years by improving instructional quality and strengthening education systems. USAID works to increase the number of children learning to read by transforming the way teachers teach, promoting active community involvement in school governance, reforming government institutions, and promoting public-private partnerships,” the organisers said.

“This Punjab scholarship programme is just one part of a comprehensive US education assistance programme which includes building or rehabilitating nearly 800 schools, launching new degree programmes in education at 90 teacher colleges and universities, providing scholarships for 12,000 students to study in Pakistan, and operating the largest Fulbright academic exchange programme in the world,” they added.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 3^rd, 2013.