January 24, 2006	Tuesday	Zilhaj 23, 1426

KARACHI, Jan 23: The position holders of the Higher Secondary School Certificate annual examination conducted by various educational boards of the province in 2004 were given cash awards at a ceremony on Monday night.

According to an official of the department, students who had secured first three positions in pre-engineering, pre-medical, commerce, arts, home economics and general groups in their intermediate annual examinations were called to receive the merit scholarships.

Those who secured first position got Rs 50,000 each, and those who clinched second and third positions respectively were given Rs30,000 and Rs20,000 respectively.

Of the 68 listed students, about 62 attended the ceremony held at the D J Sindh Government Science College.

The jubilant position holders received their prize cheques from the chief guest, Sindh’s senior minister Syed Sardar Ahmad, Michelle Riboud, Sector Manager of World Bank for Education in the South Asia, the education secretary, the chairmen of the education boards, senior officers of the education department and principals of various colleges.

The ceremony was attended by a large number of parents, teachers and family members of position holders as well as senior citizens.

In his address of welcome, Ghulam Ali Shah Pasha, said that as much as Rs 2.4 million were allocated for the top three position to encourage the outstanding students and recognize their achievements.

He said that the Sindh government, through an endowment fund, was also supporting those who were able to get admission in private educational institutions, but could not afford the fee for the entire programme.

The department is also providing poverty-cum-merit scholarship at the rate of Rs 25,000 each to 400 poor students of all educational boards.

Senior Minister Syed Sardar Ahmad appreciated the distribution of cash prizes among position holders and said that it was a great achievement, both for students and the government.

“It is hoped that the amount would be spent on higher education of the students in question,” he said.

He noted that the womenfolk constituted a considerable size of human resources in every society, but in Sindh and other parts of the country, a meagre number of girls were going to schools due to reluctance of the parents, and owing to non-availability of educational institutions in the vicinity or due to poverty which was hindering the over-all process of development.

World Bank manager Ms Michelle was of the view that support extended to the students was well in line with the WB aspirations for an increased access to quality education for all sections of population.

The recipients of the cash awards included:

FIRST POSITION: Sarah Hasan Siddiqui, Shahrish Akhtar Siddiqui, Maria Malik, Sameen Sadaf, Sumaira Hanif and Sidra Arshad (BIE Karachi); Almas Sikandar, Zohaib Hassan, Gulnaz Ilyas, Sammer Zai, Tayaba Anwer and Syeda Fouzia. BI&S, Sukkur- Maryam Naimatullah, Piyar Ali Lakho, Ubedullah Memon, Shabana Shaikh and Asma Mangi (BI&S, Hyderabad); Akashah Amber, Asmat Gul, Nadir Hussain Abro, Muhammad Yunis, and Sumaira Javaid (BI&S, Larkana).

SECOND POSITION: Sidra Ahmad, Mehreen Javed, Wajeeha Tariq, Hiba Hasnat, Madiha Saeed Shaikh and Nida Hasan (Karachi); Naveed Ismail, Bushra Alvi, Mustafa Arshad Jamil, Humaira Ashraf, Hira Fazal, Quratul Ain, Bakhtawar Mahar and Huma Hafeez (Hyderabad); Darshan Lal Hindo, Mohammad Hassan Khokhar, Lutufullah Shaikh, Komal Devi and Syeda Marya Rashdi Syed (Larkana); Nida Haroon, Furqan Habib, Fayaz Hussain and Asma Parveen (Sukkur).

THIRD POSITION: Maryam Anis, Farhan Tanveer, Hina Iqbal, Sadia Younus Abdullah, Badar Yousuf, Hiba Zahoor and Hina Fatima Rajani (Karachi); Aisha Khan, Mahjbeen Dar, Bushra Abdul Ghaffar, Amna Younus, Urooj Hussain and Sarah Anis (Hyderabad); Kinza Memon, Neelum Kumari, Fahmida Jiskani, Priya Devi and Asma Siyal (Sukkur); Tayaba Sultana, Umer Farooq Gopang, Altaf Ahmed, Mohammad Hanif and Ambreen Asghar (Larkana).