The British Council, under Scotland-Pak Scholarship Scheme, has BC awards scholarship to 19 female students of Allama Iqbal Open University (AIOU) pursuing degrees at master’s and M Phil levels.
The BC awards scholarship certificate distribution ceremony was held here at the main campus. The ceremony was presided over by Vice Chancellor, AIOU, Prof Dr Zia-ul-Qayyum, while Amir Ramzan, Country Director, British Council Pakistan was the chief guest on the occasion.
Principal officers, deans and heads of academic department of AIOU and senior officers of the British Council, Islamabad including Sarah Parvez and Zoha Fatima were also present.
Director International Collaboration and Exchange Office, AIOU, Zahid Majeed sharing his remarks said the scholarships were awarded on merit to the most deserving students from the underdeveloped areas of Pakistan.
The British Council in partnership with the government of Scotland initiated Scotland-Pakistan Scholarship Scheme to promote education for women in Pakistan.
Many AIOU students applied for the scheme which will cover educational expenses of selected students for two years. However, 37 female students were shortlisted and 19 were awarded scholarships.
Addressing the ceremony, Prof Dr Zia-ul-Qayyum congratulated scholarship awardees and said that awarding scholarships to our students reflected British Council’s confidence on academic credibility of the university.
He suggested that the British Council might award scholarships to additional AIOU students generously approved by Amir Ramzan.
The Country Director of British Council in Pakistan went on to announce the awarding of laptops to selected AIOU scholarship recipients to facilitate access to their work during the pandemic.
Prof Dr. Zia-ul-Qayyum thanked him and said that AIOU had reserved considerable amount of funds to provide educational facilities to the underprivileged and marginalised segments of the society.
Originally published at The nation