Martine Dorance, Ambassador of France to Pakistan and Dr Mukhtar Ahmed, Chairman Higher Education Commission (HEC), signed a grant agreement of 250,000 euros for the next phase of the Need Based Scholarship Programme at the Residence of France. Since 2012, France has been offering hundreds of scholarships to promising underprivileged young people, hailing primarily from FATA, Khyber Pakhtunkhawa and Balochistan, to pursue their education in top universities of Pakistan.
These scholarships will focus on bachelor degrees in the fields of business administration, engineering, information technology/telecoms, natural sciences and social sciences. The scholarships awards are designed to cover the complete cost of education during the entire academic programme of all the recipients. Over 75 percent of these grants are awarded to female students.
The signature ceremony was held previously at the annual gala dinner of Pakistan France Alumni Network (PFAN). More than one hundred people who had studied on scholarship in France attended the ceremony. The Ambassador announced during the reception that a new network of Campus France Information Offices, the Agency responsible for studies in France, is developing in all main cities of Pakistan. The first such office had already been opened in Islamabad in the premises of Alliance Française.