MUZAFFARABAD: As many as 10 students, some of them orphans, from Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) will be flying to Istanbul later this week under a scholarship programme by the Turkish government.

The elated students, who have been chosen through a multi-step process, are finalising preparations for their journey to building a bright future for themselves, an academician associated with the process told Dawn here on Monday.

Mohammad Zahid Azeem, Principal of Khubaib College, located in Rara, some five kilometres along Muzaffarabad-Kohala Road, said four of these scholars belonged to AJK and three each to GB and KP. They had passed 8th grade exam from Khubaib colleges in Muzaffarabad, Skardu and Haripur, respectively, he added.

Khubaib colleges, it may be mentioned here, are a project of Khubaib Foundation, a registered non-profit and non-government educational and social welfare organisation working in close collaboration with Turkey’s Humanitarian Relief Foundation (IHH).

Mr Azeem said soon after the devastating October 2005 earthquake the Turkish government offered a scholarship to an orphan student from Muzaffarabad.

“That was the first scholarship by them for the earthquake-affected area and the awardee has now returned home, with a master’s degree in computer sciences.”

Mr Azeem said the scholarship programme could not be continued in the coming years, but last year the Turkish government pledged to fully sponsor studies from college to university level of 10 students, apart from boarding, lodging and return air-tickets once a year.

Last year eight students from Muzaffarabad and two from Haripur – all orphans - were chosen, while this year students from GB have been included in the scholarship programme, he said.