HEC, BISP to sponsor 50,000 undergraduate scholarships.

ISLAMABAD -- The Higher Education Commission (HEC) and Benazir Income Support Program (BISP) will collaborate in sponsoring 50,000 scholarships per year to undergraduate students from low-income families, a statement said on Saturday.

These scholarships will be awarded through Ehsaas Undergraduate Scholarship Project.

Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation Dr. Sania Nishtar was addressing the 26th Vice Chancellors Committee Meeting convened by Dr. Muhammad Ali, Chair of the VCs Committee to brief them about government's upcoming Ehsaas Undergraduate Scholarships.

The formal launch of the programme by the prime minister is planned for next week. Heads of public sector universities across the country attended the meeting at HEC Secretariat.

Chairman HEC Dr. Tariq Banuri, on this occasion gave a detailed briefing to the vice chancellors on the newly conceptualised scholarships, entitled Ehsaas Undergraduate Scholarship Project.

Dr. Banuri said the scheme is the largest ever undergraduate scholarship initiative of Pakistan seeking to award 50,000 scholarships per year to undergraduate students from low-income families.

He said that this is an outcome of mutual understanding between HEC and Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) under the auspices of government's Ehsaas Programme.

In the last 14 years, the HEC has awarded a total of around 30,000 undergraduate scholarships, while this scheme will give 50,000 scholarships every year.

It is a huge paradigm shift. 'The objective is that no child should remain deprived of education due to financial constraints.'

The project will award Ehsaas scholarships to low-income students enrolled in four and five-year undergraduate programmes. All students from low-income...