SHANGLA: Speakers at a seminar here on Saturday asked students to directly apply to the foreign educational institutions and organisations for scholarships.

They said the students could save money by not involving private education consultants and agents for the purpose.

The event organised by local youth was attended by students, especially those wanting to go abroad for higher education on scholarship. The speakers included Tariq Rauf, Naveed Ahmad, Ikramullah Khalid, Captain Abbas Khan and Wakeel Khan, who graduated from Chinese universities.

Mr Naveed said 274 universities offered the China Scholarship Council scholarships every year, so Pakistanis could avail themselves of those higher education opportunities by submitting applications online to the universities. He said scholarship applicants needed awareness as some education agents charged them huge sums of money.

The speaker guided participants about how to apply for scholarship online, how to get recommendation letters from the Chinese universities and how to submit the printed copies of applications.

He said China, Turkey, US and other countries offered scholarships to foreign students in large numbers, so the talented yet financially poor Pakistanis should apply for them to get the opportunity for own development.

Mr Tariq said Shangla youths were very talented and could do wonders in different fields if proper opportunities were provided to them, so they should go abroad on scholarship for further studies.

He said foreign universities encouraged students to directly apply for scholarships instead of engaging education consultants or agents.

Mr Tariq, who recently completed his degree programme in business and management and conducted research on ecotourism, said the research revealed that around two million tourists visited Naran and Kaghan last year and thus, benefiting the residents.

He demanded of the government to take initiatives for the promotion of tourism in Shangla.

Mr Khalid motivated participants by informing them about the successful people of the old and current times. Captain Abbas said he would guide the youth about how to join the Pakistan Army.

The Youth Jirga’s representatives later gave away shields to the speakers.

Published in Dawn, February 9th, 2020