70 selected for EU scholarship programme

Islamabad

More than 70 young students from across Pakistan have been selected for the European Union’s Erasmus+ programme, the world's most successful student exchange programme.

Young students from around the world will have an opportunity to pursue a master’s degree from different universities across Europe.

The Erasmus Plus is a €14.7 billion programme, which combines all of the EU’s current schemes for education, training, youth and sport.

The successful students from Pakistan will study agriculture, energy, biotechnology, business studies, engineering, telecommunications, economic cooperation and political science across the European Union.

To honour them, EU Ambassador to Pakistan Jean-François Cautain hosted a pre-departure brief here for the successful candidates from Islamabad and adjoining areas.

He said the mobility that the European Union had encouraged since its inception provided young people with greater opportunities and equal access to resources and knowledge.

“This has greatly contributed to raising the quality of academia, research and innovation throughout Europe. Welcoming non-EU Students is an additional aspect of Erasmus+ programme that we value very much especially at a time where globalisation is manipulated to oppose peoples from different parts of the world,” he said.

The EU ambassador said the Erasmus+ programme provided a unique opportunity for Pakistan’s future leaders to experience such a transfer of knowledge and contribute to the sustainable development of Pakistan.

He said such exchange programmes further strengthened the social, cultural, academic and commercial partnerships between the European Union and Pakistan.

Also in attendance were ambassadors and student counsellors from the various EU member states, who briefed students about different study programmes at various universities in Europe.

The students also met with other Erasmus+ Alumni members and learned about their experiences of studying in Europe.

EMA programme representative Waqar Baig, on behalf of the president of the South Asian Chapter, Erasmus Mundus Students and Alumni Association, said the mobility of the Erasmus programme and strong focus on research and innovation had been a great learning experience for him.

“When you are studying at some of the best universities in Europe, you have access to knowledge that not only empowers you as an individual, but also transforms you,” he said.

Waqar Baig said what one learned was not limited to academic knowledge and instead, it also included understanding new cultures and societal norms that enabled one to understand perspectives, which he or she might never have thought of before.

“It opens up a thinking process which not only contributes directly towards the skill and career development of young minds, but also has the potential to completely transform the indigenous higher education, academia and research in Pakistan,” he said.