President Dr Arif Alvi has said that focusing on three key areas, namely education, health and employment, would prove helpful in effectively utilizing the real potential of country’s talented youth.
Addressing the Vice Chancellors Committee on the Ehsaas Undergraduate Programme at the Higher Education Commission in Islamabad, he stressed steps to ensure diverting energies and abilities of youth towards national development.
Dr Arif Alvi emphasized on importance of the scholarships – both on need and merit based – to provide financial and moral support to students in their quest for knowledge. He recalled that his own educational career had several phases where he studied on the scholarships, including completion of the first masters’ degree.
WOMEN AFTER MARRIAGES
He said that the Ehsaas scholarship programme was significant in bringing positive change in the lives of students, facing financial constraints. He said that fairness and transparency were important while shortlisting candidates for scholarships and expressed confidence that the Ehsaas team would justify the criteria.
The president said that education of women was equally important in view of their contribution to national economy. However, he pointed out that a large number of talented women left their professional careers after marriages, resulting in waste of educational resources.
SOCIAL SAFETY COVER
Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Social Welfare and Poverty Alleviation Dr Sania Nishtar said that umbrella of the Ehsaas programme was meant to provide social safety cover and bring a paradigm shift in poverty eradication. She mentioned that 50,000 annual scholarships would be given to youth to help them become self-reliant and a useful segment of the society.