ISLAMABAD, March 31: Minister of State for Overseas Pakistanis Senator Tariq Azeem on Friday said a bill would soon be presented before the parliament seeking degree-awarding status for OPF Girls College.

He was talking to reporters after attending the Sports Day function at the OPF Girls College F-8.

The state minister said the charter had already been approved by the Board of Governors and Higher Education Commission. After its approval by the parliament, the OPF College will have the status of a university.

On the complaints of some parents, the state minister said the children of overseas Pakistanis should be admitted first and the remaining seats offered to locals.

When asked about corruption and embezzlement by the previous principal of the college, he said investigations were underway. He said the process was taking a long time because there were many allegations.

However, he said: “It is premature to talk about the issue till the investigations are complete.”

Senator Azeem said the system of sending manpower abroad had been centralized and only people with proper skills and training were being sent abroad.

He said a National Technical Education and Vocational Training Authority (NTEVTA) had been established to train and impart skills to those people proceeding abroad for employment. He said the situation had changed and people with no skills or who fraudulently managed to sneak into any country faced great problems.

The state minister said recently the labour ministry cancelled licences of many overseas employment promoters. They were accused of adopting unfair means to send people to different countries and extort money from them.

He said people were ready to pay as much amount as was demanded from them to obtain visa of any country. But since they are unskilled, they face problems in getting a suitable job and are unable to earn the amount they had paid to the employment promoters. These things were now being discouraged, he added.

The college principal, Dr Shahina Khan, stressed on the students to take active part in sports and extra-curricular activities.

She talked about the performance of OPF Girls College saying the institution had produced unmatched talent in both sports and education. Some students have earned national and international laurels, she said.

Earlier, the students exhibited a variety of spectacular shows. A torch was lit and balloons were released at the beginning of the show. The young students took part in a parade, after which a Chinese festival was held.