National Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Research and Development Fund has announced that a modified ICT scholarship programme-2011 would be conducted due to shortage of time and interested students should prepare for entrance exams of participating universities of their choice on their own for the year.
There is no student registration form to be filled at this instance. Registration process will be initiated later and at the same students are advised to ensure admission in one of the participating universities. An official at Ministry of Information Technology on Wednesday said the government launched National ICT Scholarship Programme (NICTSP)-2011 for talented students of rural areas across the country to provide fully funded four-year undergraduate scholarships in ICT-related disciplines in the top universities of the country.
Now it was the responsibility of the interested students to stay informed about NICTSP participating university selection criteria, entrance exam dates and take the entrance exams for selected universities on their own to be potentially eligible for the scholarship, he added.
Giving further details, he said this year there would be no "Training of Teachers" or "Foundation Training" of students. Also, no Teacher's kits or Student's kits would be prepared or provided to teachers and students respectively, he added. About the programme, the official said it was aimed at providing access to the deserving and talented youth from rural marginalised areas to enter the ICT profession and become world-class professionals to serve the country.
This fully funded scholarship covers admission and tuition fee, boarding and lodging, book and food allowance and stipend for successful students to pursue undergraduate degree in ICT disciplines. About 15 universities including public and private sector universities are participating in the programme.
This programme is now conducted in financial collaboration of National ICT R&D Fund and Public Sector Development Programme of the government. A total of over 1,700 talented and deserving students are studying and some have graduated from the 15 top private and public sector ICT universities of the country and are being funded by National ICT Scholarship Programme to pursue undergraduate degrees in ICT-related disciplines.