** Pakistan has one of the largest youth bulge in the region (over 60 percent of the population) amid a slowing economy worldwide and shift to futuristic tech-related skills and knowledge-based supply chain.
** The human capital development launch comes as Khan government prepares to break ground on religious tourism with the Kartarpur Corridor open for up to 5000 Sikh pilgrims daily this week.
DESPARDES — Prime Minister Imran Khan on Monday announced he would launch the country’s “largest-ever need-based” scholarship program for human capital development.
Called ‘Ehsaas for Students’, the initiative is another project of the government’s social welfare program ‘Ehsaas’ and aims to provide scholarships to about 200,000 students from lower-income families over the next four years, Dawn news reported.
The initiative would facilitate tertiary education (undergraduate) among the disposable-income hit young in rural and urban areas of the country.
Pakistan has one of the largest youth bulge in the region (over 60 percent of the population) amid a slowing economy worldwide and shift to futuristic tech-related skills and knowledge-based supply chain.
The government seems to re-calibrate decade-old priorities and focus on human capital as growth driver, says an expert.
The Higher Education Commission (HEC) issued a flyer following the prime minister’s tweet which said it will award 50,000 scholarships every year, half of which will be granted to women.
“I will launch the largest ever needs-based undergraduate scholarship program in the history of Pakistan today. 200,000 scholarships will be awarded over the next four years, 50,000 every year, 50 percent of these for women to promote human capital development under my @Ehsaas_Pk umbrella,” the premier said in a tweet on Monday morning.
The project aims to “ensure that no student is deprived of education because of financial need”.
Scholarships will be awarded to students admitted to any public sector university “on merit”, whose family income is “below poverty threshold”.
The program also encourages differently-abled students to apply and/or those who hail from rural or remote areas. The scholarship would cover the students’ tuition fees and also provide them a stipend.
The human capital development launch comes as Khan government prepares to break ground on religious tourism with the Kartarpur Corridor open for up to 5000 Sikh pilgrims daily this week.
