A group of Parliamentarians from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) visited the Higher Education Commission secretariat on Monday to discuss HEC initiatives for promotion of higher education in the tribal areas. Dr Mukhtar Ahmed, Chairman HEC, briefed them in detail about Commission's core activities, particularly different initiatives for FATA region.
The meeting was attended by Muhammad Nazir Khan, Parliamentary Secretary, Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training, Muhammad Jamalud Din, Alhaj Shah Jee Gul Afridi, Nasir Khan, Sajid Hussain Turi, Ghalib Khan, and Syed Ghazi Ghulab Jamal. Dr Arshad Ali, Executive Director HEC, Dr Ghulam Raza Bhatti, Member (Operations and Planning) HEC and other senior management of the Commission were also present.
Briefing the parliamentarians on HEC's core aims in general, and initiatives for promotion of higher education in FATA in particular, the Chairman said that HEC is committed to ensuring development of FATA through increased access of tribal students to higher education. Dr Mukhtar Ahmed said that so far 6633 FATA students have benefited from Prime Minister's Fee Reimbursement Programme for MPhil and PhD studies, while 2750 students from FATA have been awarded scholarships under HEC's programme for undergraduate and postgraduate students.
He informed the guests that over 3000 student from FATA have also been provided scholarships under HEC Merit and Need-based Scholarship Programme, while a number of scholars have also availed foreign scholarships for PhD studies as well as Cuban Government's scholarships for medical studies. He further said that so far 1800 FATA students have been provided laptops under Prime Minister's Laptop Scheme. "HEC believes in a holistic approach towards development and ensures that quality is not compromised at any level," he said.
Addressing concerns of parliamentarians over location of FATA University, the Chairman said that location for establishment of FATA University had been controversial for years; however HEC proposed that the University campuses should be set up in each Agency once the University is established. "Our proposal was admired and now we have FATA University on the ground," he said while assuring that campuses of the University will be established in each Agency.-PR
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