ISLAMABAD: Higher Education Commission (HEC) Chairman Dr Mukhtar Ahmed said the government had decided to allocate Rs 2 billion for the second phase of Prime Minister’s Fee Reimbursement Scheme.
Talking to APP, the Higher Education Commission (HEC) Chairman said Rs 1.5 billion had been disbursed among over 60,000 students of less developed areas in the first phase of the fee reimbursement scheme.
After the successful completion of the initiative in the first phase, he said, it had been extended to more than 100 districts of the country, including the entire Balochistan province, FATA and Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), Gilgit Baltistan (GB) and southern Punjab.
“This scheme is for all eligible students without any discrimination as imparting good education (to students) is our priority,” he remarked.
To a question regarding research work in Pakistan, he said the government had focussed to invest more in research-oriented programmes. It was evident from the fact that the number of researchers in the country had increased from 800 to 10,000 during last 10 years.
He said a $9 million project was launched in collaboration with the United States for carrying out research work in the country. Under the programme, the US would bear the expenses of Pakistani students studying in that country while the American students here would be entertained by the Pakistan government. He said the HEC was taking steps for the promotion of social sciences in the country.
