PESHAWAR, Sept 7: Students and teachers at a symposium on higher education on Thursday expressed concern over shortage of scholarships for deserving students in various universities of the NWFP.

They said average citizens could not afford higher education these days.

There was no PhD graduate and not a single scholarship available to students of Hazara University, said its Vice-Chancellor Prof Ihsan Ali.

“Very few bright but poor students can meet the Higher Education Commission’s strict requirement of having a guarantor with a huge amount of money or land. As a consequence, they never get the scholarship.” a position-holder Peshawar University graduate, Zahir Shah, said.

The participants, including vice-chancellors, professors and students from 16 public and private sector universities, discussed the challenges and opportunities for youths in the higher education sector.

HEC Operation and Planning Member Prof Mukhtar Ahmed said the expenditure in the higher education sector was very low. The spending per student per year was almost Rs90,000 in Pakistan, while its was $20,000 in the United States, he said.