PESHAWAR: As many as 63 students of the undergraduate programme of Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Women University (SBBWU) were awarded need-based scholarships on Tuesday.

The scholarship award ceremony was arranged at the old campus of the university under the aegis of Higher Education Commission’s German-need based scholarship programme for the provincial metropolis. Vice-chancellor Prof Razia Sultana was the chief guest on the occasion who gave away the scholarships to the deserving students.

Speaking at the ceremony, she stressed the need for promotion of female education in the province. She said that such initiatives would go a long way in promotion of education among women. She said that financial constraints were one of the main reasons for low literacy rate, especially among women.

Prof Sultana said that under the programme each student was given Rs23,619 for six months. She said that the university had got an amount of Rs1.48 million for the purpose.

She said that they would arrange more such scholarships for the students to attract more and more girls to education.

Frontier College for Women principal Durre Shahwar was also present on the occasion.

Published in Dawn, August 27th, 2014