A NOTIFICATION circulating on social media posted by the Pakistan Education Endowment Fund (PEEF) announced a fully-funded scholarship programme for nurses, offering six months of training for the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) and the National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX) that are essential requirements for obtaining a nursing licence to work in the United States.

It may be a golden opportunity for nurses, but for those hailing from elite families, not for those who come from families with low socioeconomic status. Initially, an entrance test was conducted with a Rs1,000 fee.

The selected candidates were then added to a WhatsApp group. They were subsequently informed about the training venue for orientation.

However, confusion soon arose when the candidates learned that they would have to sign a bond agreeing to reimburse all expenses incurred during the process — including document verification, equivalence assessment, NCLEX and IELTS fees, and other processing charges. While these expenses were promised to be refunded later, this raises a critical question: what does ‘fully-funded’ really mean?

Most of the nurses come from econo-mically disadvantaged backgrounds. If they could afford these expenses, they would have already pursued opportunities in the US or other Western countries.

While this programme may be a great initiative, it appears to be more self-funded than fully-funded, causing financial strain on the aspiring nurses.

Khanghar Rughio
Karachi

Published in Dawn, February 8th, 2025