Sindh HEC to award Rs40m scholarships to varsity students

Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah on Thursday said scholarships worth Rs40 million will be awarded to students of public and private universities in the province.

“These scholarships will be awarded on the basis of merit-cum-need to BS, MS, MPhil and PhD students of public universities and to MS, MPhil and PhD students of private universities during the current financial year.”

Shah presided over a meeting of the Sindh Higher Education Commission (HEC) and vice chancellors of public universities at the CM House. On the HEC’s recommendation, he also distributed cheques worth Rs25 million among five universities of rural and developing areas to set up information technology labs.

The universities that received their cheques are Shikarpur’s Shaikh Ayaz University, Sukkur’s Begum Nusrat Bhutto Women University, Khairpur’s Benazir Bhutto Shaheed University of Technology & Skill Development, Hyderabad’s Government College University and Karachi’s

Benazir Bhutto Shaheed University Lyari.

Shah also distributed cheques worth Rs45.7 million for 26 research projects of faculty members of the University of Sindh, the Liaquat University of Medical & Health Sciences and the Mehran University of Engineering & Technology in Jamshoro, the University of Karachi, the NED University of Engineering & Technology and the Dow University of Health Sciences in Karachi, Khairpur’s Shah Abdul Latif University, the Sukkur IBA University, the Nusrat Bhutto University and the Government College University.

The chief executive said holding smart classes in universities is an innovative concept in education, as owing to the current situation, e-learning and online education are the need of the hour. “The use of smart classrooms in universities is not a dream but a necessity of the time.”

Sindh HEC Chairman Dr Asim Hussain told the meeting that the education commission has started the programme to provide funds to establish smart classrooms in all public universities of the province. He said in the first phase, funding has been approved for seven newly established and developing universities.

He also said the HEC is providing hand-holding support to public universities to organise seminars, conferences, workshops and symposia in order to enhance and promote the culture of teaching and research in the rapidly changing global scenario.

The HEC received nine proposals from different public universities. On the recommendation of the review committee, the proposals of five universities amounting to Rs8.8 million were approved.

The proposals of the University of Sindh, the NED University, the Nusrat Bhutto University, Sakrand’s Shaheed Benazir Bhutto University of Veterinary & Animal Sciences and Bhit Shah’s University of Sufism & Modern Sciences were approved. The remaining proposals would be

finalised shortly.