Senate body meeting: FATA students should avail scholarships in capital
Senators lash out at education, finance ministries for ignoring tribal areas, delaying HEC’s funds.
Senator Afrasiab Khattak and others suggested to the minister to include Fata students in the list of the capital as well so they can utilise the scheme for varsities in Islamabad. PHOTO: FILE
ISLAMABAD:
The Senate Standing Committee on Education agreed on Tuesday to include students of the tribal areas seeking a master’s degree under a scholarship scheme for less developed areas.
By doing so, students from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) wishing to study in Islamabad will be able to avail the Prime Minister’s Fee Reimbursement Scheme for Less Developed Areas.
The issue was the top item on the meeting’s agenda where the body’s chairperson Abdul Nabi Bangash objected to students of Islamabad availing the scheme. State Minister for Education, Trainings and Standards in Higher Education Balighur Rehman replied that the scheme was aimed at encouraging people to study in their own areas especially for a master’s programme.
Senator Ilyas Bilour asked that when nobody can enter Fata or the other “so-called peaceful areas of the tribal agencies”, how the youth are expected to get educated there.
Senator Afrasiab Khattak and others suggested to the minister to include Fata students in the list of the capital as well so they can utilise the scheme for varsities in Islamabad. The minister agreed and said a summary will soon be forwarded to the prime minister in this regard.
Additionally, the non-inclusion of Kohat, Bannu, Hangu, Lakki Marwat and Karak in the list of areas where students could avail fee waivers was also raised.
The minister said the names of these cities will also be sent in the same summary. Bangash expressed concern over the inclusion of Fata in the Gilgit-Baltistan category under the scheme. “Fata is not a small city or a village. It is a whole region with millions of residents and should have a proper head,” he said.
HEC’s funding
The long-awaited funds to be released to the Higher Education Commission were also on the standing committee’s agenda.
Bangash granted 10 days to Finance Secretary Waqar Masood Khan, who cited problems due to the prime minister’s foreign visits among other issues as being the cause of the delay.
He requested a week to get the backlog cleared from the ministry and promised to get the job done within that time period. To this, Bangash and the other members said everything has its limits and they would not tolerate any further delay in the release of funds.
The senators, moreover, suggested to Rehman that acting HEC Chairperson Imtiaz Hussain Gilani formally be appointed to the position. Bilour said Balochistan and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) are the most neglected and least developed areas and it would thus be appropriate to appoint a permanent chief from K-P.
Seperately, while discussing the previous meeting’s agenda, Bangash asked about the Skill Development Council’s heads across the country. The education secretary replied that they were carving out a strategy to get the job done smoothly and without causing any trouble.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 4th, 2013.
The Senate Standing Committee on Education agreed on Tuesday to include students of the tribal areas seeking a master’s degree under a scholarship scheme for less developed areas.
By doing so, students from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) wishing to study in Islamabad will be able to avail the Prime Minister’s Fee Reimbursement Scheme for Less Developed Areas.
The issue was the top item on the meeting’s agenda where the body’s chairperson Abdul Nabi Bangash objected to students of Islamabad availing the scheme. State Minister for Education, Trainings and Standards in Higher Education Balighur Rehman replied that the scheme was aimed at encouraging people to study in their own areas especially for a master’s programme.
Senator Ilyas Bilour asked that when nobody can enter Fata or the other “so-called peaceful areas of the tribal agencies”, how the youth are expected to get educated there.
Senator Afrasiab Khattak and others suggested to the minister to include Fata students in the list of the capital as well so they can utilise the scheme for varsities in Islamabad. The minister agreed and said a summary will soon be forwarded to the prime minister in this regard.
Additionally, the non-inclusion of Kohat, Bannu, Hangu, Lakki Marwat and Karak in the list of areas where students could avail fee waivers was also raised.
The minister said the names of these cities will also be sent in the same summary. Bangash expressed concern over the inclusion of Fata in the Gilgit-Baltistan category under the scheme. “Fata is not a small city or a village. It is a whole region with millions of residents and should have a proper head,” he said.
HEC’s funding
The long-awaited funds to be released to the Higher Education Commission were also on the standing committee’s agenda.
Bangash granted 10 days to Finance Secretary Waqar Masood Khan, who cited problems due to the prime minister’s foreign visits among other issues as being the cause of the delay.
He requested a week to get the backlog cleared from the ministry and promised to get the job done within that time period. To this, Bangash and the other members said everything has its limits and they would not tolerate any further delay in the release of funds.
The senators, moreover, suggested to Rehman that acting HEC Chairperson Imtiaz Hussain Gilani formally be appointed to the position. Bilour said Balochistan and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) are the most neglected and least developed areas and it would thus be appropriate to appoint a permanent chief from K-P.
Seperately, while discussing the previous meeting’s agenda, Bangash asked about the Skill Development Council’s heads across the country. The education secretary replied that they were carving out a strategy to get the job done smoothly and without causing any trouble.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 4th, 2013.