The Australian High Commission arranged Tuesday a pre-departure briefing for Australian scholarship awardees about Australian culture and challenges they may face while living and studying in Australia. Around 60 Australia Awards scholarship recipients belonging to government, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and private sectors attended the farewell event.
On the occasion, Australian High Commissioner Peter Heyward said the scholarship holders would begin their studies at Australian universities from January 2015. "It's pleasing to have professionals from so many different sectors in this year's group," High Commissioner Heyward said.
"Through your study and research, you will develop the skills and knowledge to drive change in Pakistan and help build people-to-people links between the two countries," he added. Addressing the apprehensions of the recipients that they may unwelcome in different culture and environment, he said Australia is a multi-pot where immigrants came from all parts of the world. Therefore, they need not to worry that they will be only foreign nationals.
He said that applications are strongly encouraged from women, people with disability and people from focus areas including Balochistan, the Federally Administered Tribal Areas and Khyber Pakhtunkhawa. He said it was encouraging for him to see a good number of females were in scholarship holders' group who would leave next month.
The event was an opportunity for the awardees to learn about Australian culture and discuss the challenges they may face living and studying in a foreign country. Awardees spoke to Australia Awards alumni about how to deal with issues such as family and academic challenges, and stress and time management. The event was also used for the Australia Awards Alumni Network in Pakistan to swear in a new executive committee. The new Executive Committee President, Mahjabeen, said her "vision is to extend the network of linkages between Australia and Pakistan and explore opportunities for development at a regional level."
"It's exciting to lead a group of committed alumni who are contributing to the development of Pakistan," Mahjabeen said. Vice Chancellor Haripur University Dr Nasir Khan shared his experience as student who had been awarded scholarship. He had studied in Belgium, Germany and UK. He said that he came back and made a difference by improving the ranking of Institute of Management Sciences in KP. He suggested the recipients that they were 60 and they could do a lot of work in their fields after getting experience from Australia.
The Australia Awards are prestigious international awards offered annually by the Australian Government to the next generation of global leaders for development. In Pakistan, awards are offered to professionals working in sectors including health, education, mining, water resource management, agriculture, trade and governance. The next round of Australia Awards will be advertised in February 2015.
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