Financial cover: ‘35,000 Pakistani students are on HEC scholarships abroad’

Commission chairman says high-tech engineering key to prosperity

SWABI: As many as 35,000 Pakistani students are studying at various reputable universities around the world and the Higher Education Commission is affording their education.

This was said by HEC Chairman Prof Dr Mukhtar Ahmed. Speaking at the orientation of freshmen at Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute of Engineering Sciences and Technology on Saturday, Ahmed said high-tech engineering is the key to prosperity.

“We need a competent and motivated manpower to address issues like poverty and underdevelopment.”

He urged the country’s leading institutions of higher learning to play a pivotal role in nurturing the youth and preparing them for challenges of the future. “We live in a highly competitive world and we have to deliver in various fields.”

The GIKI has already proved its worth in areas of teaching and research. It must devise new strategies that are in consonance with our national requirements, he added.

Also speaking on the occasion, Society for the Promotion of Engineering Sciences and Technology in Pakistan President Engineer Shamul Mulk concurred with Ahmed and said we are living in the century of innovation.

GIKI Rector Jehangir Bashar welcomed the new batch of students and said it is fortunate to have a competent faculty which is committed to its cause. “Our alumni are making its presence felt in both Pakistan and abroad,” he added.

Prof Dr Habibullah Jamal said about 5,000 admission applications were received by GIKI for different engineering disciplines this year and only 10% of the applicants managed to make it through.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 23^rd, 2015.