PTI Government has taken a gigantic step towards real empowerment of the youth with the launching of the biggest ever scholarship programme for them by Prime Minister Imran Khan. Under Ehsaas Undergraduate Scholarship Programme, fifty thousand scholarships will be given each year to the deserving students of 119 public sector universities across the country, including Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan. A total of two hundred thousand students will benefit from this program.
The programme is a marked but positive departure from the past when scholarships were mainly concentrated on postgraduate and Ph.D. studies leaving undergraduates out of the scope of financial assistance for education. Previously, only children of the Federal Government employees were entitled for scholarship or reimbursement of the tuition fee for undergraduate programme through FG Benevolent Fund and Group Insurance but now the facility would be available to fifty thousand students every year, which would be a major relief and benefit to the poor and lower income and lower middle income groups as students belonging to a family earning below Rs. 45,000 per month would be entitled to apply for scholarship. This is important as with unending increases in fee of the universities for undergraduate programmes, children of these segments of the society were effectively denied of the opportunity of acquiring higher education and skills despite being brilliant and ability to pursue higher studies. According to Higher Education Commission (HEC), only 0.4% of the children from the lowest income quintile (from the relevant age cohort) are enrolled in higher education institutions, which is far below the national average of 10% and therefore, Ehsas scholarships aim to eliminate this source of unequal access to higher education. Payment of total tuition fee to the relevant university/institution and grant of a stipend of Rs. 4,000 per month to the student concerned would mean that beneficiaries of the scheme would be able to realize the dream of higher education and poverty would not come in the way of their studies. Prime Minister Imran Khan and Chairperson of Benazir Income Support Programme (BIS) Dr. Sania Nishtar deserve credit for utilization of huge budget of the BISP on plans that would ultimately contribute towards poverty reduction on a sustainable basis. It is also encouraging that fifty per cent scholarships are reserved for female students, a decision that would encourage more families to send their girls to universities.
