Soaring high: Top students leave for European study tour
They were given a guard of honour at the airport.
Thirty-three of the students are from the Punjab while the rest are from Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh, Azad Kashmir, Gilgit-Baltistan and Islamabad. PHOTO: FILE
LAHORE:
Forty students, who topped the intermediate and secondary education board examinations, left Lahore on Sunday for a government-funded international study tour.
The position holders will visit 20 universities in England, Sweden and Germany under a special initiative of the Punjab chief minister. Students were seen off at the airport by Punjab Education Minister Rana Mashhood Ahmad Khan.
Thirty-three of the students are from the Punjab while the rest are from Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh, Azad Kashmir, Gilgit-Baltistan and Islamabad.
The departing students were given a guard of honour at the airport. The ceremony at the airport was attended by officials from the education department along with parents of the position holders.
Talking to the students at the airport, the minister said that the students were the country’s bright future. “It is essential that these students are given due credit for their accomplishments,” he said. He also urged the students to portray a good image of the country abroad.
“You will be our ambassadors and it is vital that you portray the soft image of our country during your tour of Europe’s top universities,” he said.
“Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has launched several initiatives to strengthen the youth and provide educational opportunities to every student in the province,” he said, adding that the laptop and solar lamp schemes would benefit the youth. “The government has always rewarded merit and students hailing from humble background are being given scholarships based on their academic performance,” he said.
The minister said the government aimed to reward all position holders across the country. He said the Punjab government wanted to set an example for other provincial governments and that they should also award similar scholarships.
Earlier, the students attended orientation and communication skill sessions at the Government College University, Lahore. They were guided about interacting and communicating with foreign students. The delegation is expected to return to the country on July 26.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 23rd, 2014.
Forty students, who topped the intermediate and secondary education board examinations, left Lahore on Sunday for a government-funded international study tour.
The position holders will visit 20 universities in England, Sweden and Germany under a special initiative of the Punjab chief minister. Students were seen off at the airport by Punjab Education Minister Rana Mashhood Ahmad Khan.
Thirty-three of the students are from the Punjab while the rest are from Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh, Azad Kashmir, Gilgit-Baltistan and Islamabad.
The departing students were given a guard of honour at the airport. The ceremony at the airport was attended by officials from the education department along with parents of the position holders.
Talking to the students at the airport, the minister said that the students were the country’s bright future. “It is essential that these students are given due credit for their accomplishments,” he said. He also urged the students to portray a good image of the country abroad.
“You will be our ambassadors and it is vital that you portray the soft image of our country during your tour of Europe’s top universities,” he said.
“Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has launched several initiatives to strengthen the youth and provide educational opportunities to every student in the province,” he said, adding that the laptop and solar lamp schemes would benefit the youth. “The government has always rewarded merit and students hailing from humble background are being given scholarships based on their academic performance,” he said.
The minister said the government aimed to reward all position holders across the country. He said the Punjab government wanted to set an example for other provincial governments and that they should also award similar scholarships.
Earlier, the students attended orientation and communication skill sessions at the Government College University, Lahore. They were guided about interacting and communicating with foreign students. The delegation is expected to return to the country on July 26.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 23rd, 2014.