Zartaj for giving women equal opportunities in education

BAHAWALPUR: State Minister for Environment and Climate Change Zartaj Gul has stressed the need of giving women equal opportunities in education sector to make them essential part of the society.

She said this while addressing the Scottish Scholarship distribution ceremony at the main auditorium of the Baghdadul Jadeed Campus of the IUB here on Wednesday. Zartaj said that it was a good sign that 71 female students of the Islamia University of Bahawalpur were being given Scottish Scholarships by the British Council.“Our women were second to none in the world in terms of their talent and were performing at their best in every field”, she added.

She asked the students to focus on education, character-building and a better future so that they could continue to play their role in the development of the country.She said that the provision of scholarships by the British Council to 220 female students of Pakistan was a very good step while giving the scholarships to the female students of the South Punjab was a matter of great pleasure for her.

The state minister said that women had a very high position in our society and we had to move forward to achieve our goals.She said that thousands of students of the Islamia University of Bahawalpur deserved congratulations for continuing their teaching and research activities in such an excellent and conducive educational environment. She appreciated the ongoing academic and co-curricular activities at the university and especially practical participation of the students in all these processes.

IUB Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Athar Mehboob said that the varsity had shown significant progress and performance in every field during the last one-and-a-half year. The number of faculty had increased from 500 to 1,000, he told.Similarly, he added, the number of male and female students had increased from 13,000 to 42,000 according to the potential of the university.

The VC said that under a three-year development plan, four major academic blocks and four hostels would be constructed at the Islamia University of Bahawalpur to provide quality facilities for teaching and research to the students.Amir Ramzan, the country head of the British Council, in his virtual address said that awarding 71 scholarships to the students of the Islamia University of Bahawalpur was a source of joy for all of us.He said that 13,000 applications were received from all over the country and 220 applications were accepted and out of which, 71 were given to the students of the Islamia University of Bahawalpur.

Director Financial Assistant Ghulam Hassan Abbasi said 25pc students of the varsity were benefiting from various scholarship schemes. He said that after the Prime Minister’s Pakistan Ehsaas Scholarship Programme, the Punjab government scholarships, Higher Education scholarships and other institutional scholarships, now the British Council scholarships for our female students was a good omen.Meanwhile, the state minister also inaugurated the Prime Minister’s Tree Planting Campaign after planting a plant at the Islamia University of Bahawalpur. The state minister also visited the College of Art and Design during her visit to the Islamia University of Bahawalpur.