ISLAMABAD: The Unites States ambassador to Islamabad Richard Olson here Tuesday told the students selected to study in US that they would be 'informal amabassadors' of their country during thier stay in America.
The ambassador make these remarks in a pre-departure orientation of a group of 240 students selected for undergraduate study by the United States Educational Foundation in Pakistan (USEFP) held here at a local hotel.
The selected students hailing from all across Pakistan will be embarking, "on a very important adventure to the US," to participate during 2014-15 academic year, said Olson. It would give them an opportunity as well as their American peers to learn more about each others' country, he added.
"You will be serving as informal ambassadors of Pakistan," Olson said, adding their selection was the best of the best from among Pakistani students as a very high standard of selection was followed by the USEFP.
Their education in the American universities and colleges would help them play their role in a stable, prosperous and peaceful Pakistan, he told the cheering and excited students.
"We welcome more than 1,000 Pakistanis in the United States each year on our many exchange programs, which early demonstrates the depth of our commitment to Pakistan's young people, said Olson.
"Students are the future of Pakistan, and anyone who spends time with them knows that they continue to aim high for the future of Pakistan," he said.
The first group of Pakistan Global UGRAD students of the 2014 cohort departed in September this year and will return later this month. The USEFP administers the programme, which is funded by the US Department of State and invites Pakistani students to study for an academic semester at US colleges and universities.
In her welcome address Rita Akhtar, Executive Director of USEFP said, "The really exciting thing about this group of undergraduates is that so many of these students come from remote or economically disadvantaged areas of Pakistan."
She noted that sixty two percent of the students are women and that the 2014-15 groups include 240 Principal and 40 Alternate candidates; 92 students from Punjab, 74 from Sindh, 46 from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 28 from Gilgit-Baltistan, 15 from Balochistan, 9 from AJK, 10 from FATA, and 6 from Islamabad Capital Territory.
Students will pursue degrees in a wide variety of disciplines, including humanities and social sciences, engineering, basic sciences, law, art and design, economics, and business administration in 50 different colleges and universities located throughout the United States.
The Global UGRAD program was launched in the Fall of 2010 when the first cohort of around 50 students departed for the United States. More than 700 students have participated in the program to-date.
USEFP is a bi-national commission established in 1950 by the governments of Pakistan and the United States. USEFP's mission is to promote mutual understanding between the American and Pakistani people through educational and cultural exchange. Since its inception 64 year ago, nearly 5,000 Pakistanis and more then 900 Americans have participated in USEFP-administered exchange programmes.
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