HEC tells Senate body: USAID has stopped scholarships for Pakistani students

ISLAMABAD: The Higher Education Commission (HEC) chairman has informed the Senate Committee on Education and Professional Training on Monday that the USAID has stopped scholarships for Pakistani students.

He said that the HEC has been making hectic efforts to arrange scholarships for talented Pakistani students from other countries.

The meeting of Senate Standing Committee on Education and Professional Training was held here on Monday at the Parliament House under the chairmanship of Senator Bushra Anjum Butt.

The HEC chairman regretted that there was no budgetary allocation or significant increase for public sector universities since 2018-19. The opposition members of the committee came down hard on HEC for failing to allocate funds for the establishment of University of Chitral.

The HEC chairman responding to queries said that funds could not be provided due to some restrictions imposed by IMF.

The committee reviewed the private member bill, “The University of Business Sciences and Technology Bill 2025,” presented by Senator Abdul Shakoor Khan.

The bill proposes the establishment of a university requiring 10 acres of land, with an additional three acres for an affiliated institute. Senator Khan expressed frustration over bureaucratic hurdles, stating, HEC and other concerned departments are taking the matter seriously.

He urged the committee to resolve the issue without referring it to HEC, threatening to take up the issue with the prime minister and chairman Senate.

In addition, the Senate committee approved another private member bill, “The Nexus International University of Health Sciences, Emerging Sciences and Technology Bill 2025,” introduced by Senator Nasir Mahmood.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2025