"The Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) have achieved all goals of its NOP summer coaching session participants programme by providing complete financial aid to every single student who qualified the admission test and met the requirements for award of NOP status for financial aid. Despite the fact that DFID-funded programme has concluded successfully and it is no longer available to provide financial support to new students, all of them are being provided financial aid based on their needs."
LUMS Vice Chancellor Professor Dr Sohail H Naqvi said this talking to Business Recorder on Saturday. "We are also seeing a very significant increase in the number of students who have qualified under the NOP programme which has certainly put some financial strain on us but we have somehow managed it," Naqvi said.
He said over the years, the university has garnered support of many corporations, alumni and other individuals, who, believing in the power of change through the NOP programme, have come on board to provide financial support to this programme. By far the biggest support, however, was provided by a UK agency of international development, DFID, which afforded the cost of administrating this programme for five batches of students and also facilitated LUMS to run a large on-campus training programme to build the cohort who would pursue admissions to LUMS in a serious manner. Their support also allowed LUMS to focus on students success once they got admission in the university.
While sharing some of the success stories of this programme, Naqvi said Karrar Hussain Jaffar, one of our earliest graduates, after completing his PhD from UCLA and a post-doctorate from Harvard has been offered a faculty position at LUMS.
"We expect him to join soon." Abdul Sattar graduated on the Dean's Honour List in 2007 and is currently working as Global Corporate Audit Manager in Unilever Singapore. Salma graduated with a BA-LLB from LUMS in 2010. She is currently working as an Assistant Director in the National Accountability Bureau. Previously, she worked as Roadmap Advisor in Adam Smith International.
After completing a Bachelor's degree in Economics in 2010, Sardar Karim was one of the eight candidates from around the world who was offered a joint Japan-World Bank Graduate Scholarship and Fulbright Scholarship for 2013-2015. He was the 14th NOP scholar to have been awarded the prestigious scholarship and went on to complete his Masters in Public Administration in International Development (MPA/ID) from the renowned Harvard University's John F Kennedy School of Government. Currently, he is associated with Oxford Policy Management as an Assistant Consultant.
Faisal Hirani graduated with an accounting and finance degree in 2011 with an academic distinction and is associated with Nestle Denmark as a consumer engagement specialist. Muhammad Ayaz Umrani is a civil servant, an ASP in the Pakistan police.
Ahmed Muneeb after completing his BSc in Political Science in 2013, did his Master's in Public Policy from Willy Brandt School of Public Policy, Germany. Currently, he is working as an Associate at Bennett Midland LLC. As a civic sector consultant, he is supporting cities across the US Developments and delivering powerful solutions to meet major urban challenges.
The VC said the first and foremost objective is for each NOP scholar to become successful and serve as a beacon of hope for their respective communities. "We would love to see these scholars returning to their areas one day, establishing industry and running institutions that will change the lives of all who live there. A secondary target for LUMS is to establish an endowment to support each and every NOP student who may be admitted under this programme," he added.
Professor Naqvi said each year more than 7,500 students initially apply for the annual training programme for NOP students, out of which, around 550 are selected for participation in the summer camp. Besides, students can directly apply to LUMS for scholarship and if financial need is proven then NOP status is granted to them upon admission. While sharing the idea of initiating NOP summer coaching session participants programme, Naqvi said it was felt that talented students in the remote areas of the country lacked self-confidence and self-belief to set their sights on getting admission in LUMS.
Comments
Comments are closed.