Interviews arranged for award of nursing scholarships

PESHAWAR: Interviews were conducted for the award of scholarships to deserving students of Khyber Medical University-Institute of Nursing Sciences (KMU-INS) with financial assistance of the National Endowment Scholarships for Talent (NEST).

Under this scheme, NEST scholarships will be given to 50 students of KMU-INS. The selected students will be paid Rs41,000 per semester as tuition fee as well as Rs12,000 per month for accommodation and food. Chairing the selection meeting, KMU Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Ziaul Haq said the World Health Organisation had 2020 the year of nursing. He added the government attached importance to the field of nursing. He said the distribution of the scholarships among the students was a step in this direction.

The vice-chancellor said Pakistan was one of the leading countries to produce qualified and professionally sound doctors and the country had potentials to produce the best nurses. However, he said this important sector, which was considered the backbone of the health sector, was overlooked in the past. He said that improvement in the quality of nursing education would also improve nursing care. “It is gratifying that now capable and hardworking people are joining this profession,” he said. The vice-chancellor said equal opportunities for deserving and talented students had been provided to all institutes so that talented students, who wanted to pursue nursing as a career could benefit from this programme.

He said that KMU was providing financial assistance to students in various programmes by arranging 80 scholarships for nursing students with the financial assistance of NEST that would help meet the educational expenses of the students and reduce the burden on parents.