The Higher Education Commission (HEC) and the United States Educational Foundation in Pakistan (USEFP) on Saturday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to fund Pakistanis doing PhD in the USA under Fulbright Scholarship programme.
HEC chairman Dr Attaur Rehman and USEFP executive director Dr Grace Clark signed the MoU. With this additional input, total expenditure for sending Pakistani students to the United States will be $157.5 million over the next five years.
The agreement provides for Pakistan to contribute $10.5 million for five years, while the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) will provide $4.5 million annually for five years.
It is anticipated that approximately 50 persons will be able to be funded for PhD study each year under this arrangement. The USEFP will administer the programme. This new programme will operate as a companion programme to existing masters programme, which is sending about 100 students a year to the USA for masters degree.
The USAID provides $15 million per year with funding pledged for a period of five years. The new programme will provide funds to some of those students doing masters to continue their PhD study. In addition, some students will go to the USA for PhD study only.
Under the memorandum, priorities for programme will be those established in the HEC's technology-based industrial vision and strategy for Pakistan's socio-economic development technology document.
Essentially, the document puts a priority on science and technology, health, agriculture and economics. About 20 percent of scholarships will be in other fields.
Addressing the signing ceremony, Dr Attaur Rehman said the agreement would allow us to send many of our best and brightest students to some of the best universities in the USA. The United States has more leading universities than any other country in the world.
The agreement will give our students an opportunity to become leaders in cutting edge technologies and return to serve Pakistani universities, industry and the government, he added.
He said the agreement will play an important role in the social and economic uplift of our nation and ensure that our brilliant students and scholars have a voice in the international academic dialogue: not only learning what American universities have to offer, but also helping students and scholars there to better understand opportunities available in Pakistan.
US ambassador Ryan C. Crocker said on the occasion the scholarship programme is the flagship educational and cultural exchange programme of the US government. With the signing of this MoU, Pakistan will have the largest Fulbright degree programme in the world.
He said the US government is proud of its Fulbright commission in Pakistan, the USEFP, for its long record of strong integrity, of selecting excellent candidates through open competition, and its transparent administration. He said he was especially pleased that the USEFP has been able to negotiate an MoU that is good for Pakistan and good for the US.
He added the US government is also very proud that its Agency for International Development has had a major role in funding the US portion of the agreement, which will help support the long-term development of Pakistan and to support its emergence as a scientific and technological force in the world economy.
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