ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Planning Development and Special Initiatives has directed the finance division to immediately resolve the issues being faced by the scholars during the studies in the USA under the US-Pakistan Knowledge Corridor project initiative by the Higher Education Commission.
The Pakistan-US Corridor was conceptualized in June 2015 by the incumbent planning minister under the vision of 2025 to boost cooperation between the two countries in the education sector.
The key objectives of the initiative were to increase the number and quality of faculty in higher education institutions (HEI’s), to enhance the research and academic capacity of the higher education institutions of Pakistan by providing trained manpower who will improve the quality of instruction and innovative research and to train approximately 1,000 potential applicants annually for university entrance exams such as GRE and TOEFL/IELTS under the “Talent Farming component” of the project.
The planning minister while reviewing the progress directed the finance division to immediately release their dues so that they could continue their studies. The meeting was attended by the officials of HEC, finance division, and other stakeholders.
“These scholars are the assets of the country and despite financial constraints, the government will continue to support and will resolve their issues without further delay,” said the minister.
The executive director HEC informed the meeting that so far 410 students have been awarded scholarships in various categories which include arts and humanities, design and media, social sciences, engineering, basic sciences, medical and allied health sciences, agriculture, veterinary science, computer sciences, emerging technologies, water resources and energy.
She further informed the meeting that almost 2,800 applications have been received for GRE-General Training in 2023 and 35 GRE – General training sessions have been conducted including 10 virtual sessions and a total 1,536 participants benefited from the training.
