69,130 Ehsaas Scholarships Worth Rs6.53 Bln Being Awarded For FY 2020-21

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 15th Jun, 2021 ) :A total of 69,130 Ehsaas scholarships worth Rs6.53 billion are being awarded including 51 percent scholarships to girls and four percent to minorities in the Fiscal Year (FY) 2020-22.

The need cum merit based Ehsaas scholarship covers 100 percent tuition fee and a living stipend.

According to the Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation, Dr Sania Nishtar, "Ehsaas is fully determined that no deserving student gets deprived of higher education." She emphasized to ensure that programme holistically benefits girls, minorities, students as well as those from disadvantaged areas who applied for scholarship.

She said Higher Education Commission (HEC) has also been urged to expedite and complete the payment process to universities and students before June 30, 2021.

The programme is on the track in its first two years of execution and in the current year 2020-21, as many as 120,000 undergraduate students applied for Ehsaas scholarship through online portal. Students from low-income backgrounds studying in undergraduate programmes across 119 public sector universities were eligible to apply.

Following due diligence procedures, overall 69,130 scholarships are being awarded nationwide for the current fiscal year.

Among these, 59% of the scholarships are being awarded to students from Punjab, 41% from Sindh, 61 percent from Balochistan, 51% from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 50 percent from Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan each and 45 percent to those from Islamabad Capital Territory.

As part of the policy, the scholarship support will be continued to awardees throughout the course of their undergraduate degree programme based on their academic performance.

The Ehsaas undergraduate scholarship programme was officially launched by the prime minister on November 4, 2019. The geographical spread of the programme covers all four provinces, Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit Baltistan.

According to the programme design, 200,000 undergraduate scholarships are being given in 4 years to enhance financial access to higher education for the brilliant yet deserving students. Fifty percent scholarships are reserved for girls.

This scholarship programme is part of the overarching Ehsaas framework. The human capital development lies at the core of Ehsaas agenda.

These Ehsaas scholarships will boost education in the country, reduce poverty, and will contribute towards inclusive development.