Tribal students demand scholarship to continue studies

PESHAWAR: The students from the tribal districts, who had been deprived of Higher Education Commission (HEC) scholarship programme, on Monday urged the prime minister and other relevant authorities to take notice of sudden suspension of the scholarship.

Addressing a news conference at Peshawar Press Club, Abdul Wadood, Azaz and others said that the students belonging to the erstwhile Fata, having qualified for the HEC scholarship, had been stopped from sitting in the examination on Monday, citing that HEC had yet not paid fees of tribal students.

They said that the future of hundreds of students was at stake due to negligence of the administration of NUML University, Peshawar and HEC.

They said that the tribal students had taken admission under HEC scholarship programme.

The students said they were charged Rs33,000 by the university on account of security from the very first day.

They said that the scholarship is the only support for the militancy-affected tribal students to receive higher education.

The students said the issue was also raised with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa governor and chief minister but the university administration did not follow their directives. They warned of launching a protest campaign if they lost an academic year.