ISLAMABAD: The US government launched here on Wednesday the second phase of its Merit and Needs Based Scholarship Programme which would benefit 3,000 talented students in need of financial assistance to pursue higher education.

The launch of new phase of the programme funded by the US Agency for International Development (USAID) was announced by Gregory Gottlieb, the mission director of USAID Pakistan, at a ceremony on Wednesday which was also attended by Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal, Executive Director of the Higher Education Commission (HEC) Prof Mukhtar Ahmad and vice chancellors of partner universities.

A total of 1,807 scholarships were awarded under the first phase of the programme and more than 1,300 students have already obtained their undergraduate and graduate degrees.

The programme served as a catalyst for other donors to award scholarships to students of the participating institutions, resulting in doubling of the number of students enrolled since 2004. Because of the success of the programme, needs-based scholarships which were offered by just two institutions in 2004 are now being offered by about 70 public and private universities.

“The US government through the USAID has decided to expand the Merit and Needs Based Scholarship Programme through the HEC by providing an additional $23.1 million to benefit another 3,000 talented Pakistanis,” said Mr Gottlieb.

“Eighteen additional universities have been included and new fields of study will allow Pakistanis to pursue degrees in the most-sought after fields of studies to meet the needs of the job market.”

He said that half the scholarships had been set aside for women and to help ensure that “we achieve this goal, four women-only universities have been added to the expanded programme”.

On the occasion, Mr Iqbal thanked the US government for its continued support to Pakistan’s education sector and noted that students had been selected for scholarships based on financial need, after they had been granted university admission.

The programme is part of the US education assistance programme in Pakistan, which includes building or rehabilitating more than 850 schools; establishing centres for advanced studies at three universities to focus on applied research in energy, agriculture and water; expanding English skills for more than 5,000 low-income students; and creating accredited degree programmes in education at 90 teachers’ colleges and universities across the country.

Published in Dawn, September 18th , 2014