So it seems that the government of Pakistan has finally decided to address other problems in the education system as well. The government is planning to launch the ‘Ehsaas’ Undergraduate Scholarship scheme and it is believed that this programme will be up and running in the next few weeks. An MoU in this regard was signed on 20th September 2019. The initiative’s steering committee met on Thursday to decide on the implementation of this plan.
The meeting was Co-chaired by Dr. Sania Nishtar who is currently the Special Assistant to the Prime Minister in the field of Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation and the other Co-chairperson was, HEC Chairman Dr. Tariq Banuri. The meeting was called together in order to finalize the eligibility criteria of the new initiative, its standard operating procedures, allocation of scholarships, financial mechanism and communications plan.
It was also discussed that the right to free education from the age of 5 to 16 years is guaranteed under the Article 25-A and to provide monetary help to education beyond that age, the ‘Ehsaas’ undergraduate scholarship program will be introduced by the government. Under the following project, the eligible young generation of Pakistan will have the chance to gain higher education irrespective of income, gender, or location. The amount of scholarships will be dependent on the budget envelope.
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Dr. Nishtar while commenting on the project stated that, “The Prime Minister has instructed that the undergraduate scheme should be launched as soon as possible. The government realizes that deprivation to education is the highest contributor in Pakistan’s national multi-dimensional poverty index. Therefore, ‘Ehsaas’ will pay special attention to the education of undergraduate students, especially women and girls from underprivileged families and areas”.
Furthermore,it should be noted that the meeting involved some very important people which included, Ali Raza Bhutta, Secretary BISP; Arshad Mehmood, Additional Secretary Finance; Dr. Fateh Marri, Executive Director, HEC; and Dr. Raza Chohan, DG HEC, Dr. Muhammad Ali, VC Quaid e Azam University and Convener – VCs Committee and Dr. Khalid Mehmood, Sr. Director Complementary Initiatives.
