The programme provides funding for Pakistani women to pursue graduate degrees at any Pakistani institution that has been approved by the HEC.
The Scottish Government’s Minister for International Development, Neil Gray, has announced doubling the number of scholarships available through the British Council‘s Scotland Pakistan Scholarship Scheme for Young Women and Girls.
According to a news release from the embassy released here on Thursday, the additional $500,000 will double the number of school and university scholarships available to women and girls in the worst flood-affected areas, ensuring they can continue their education with the least amount of disruption.
The Scotland Pakistan Scholarship Scheme for Young Women and Girls, which was started in late 2013, aims to increase access for underprivileged girls across Pakistan to secondary and higher education by providing them with scholarships.
The programme provides funding for Pakistani women to pursue graduate degrees at any Pakistani institution that has been approved by the HEC.
This scholarship is also available to young girls in secondary school to ensure that their education will not be hindered by financial constraints, a problem that affects the majority of girls in Pakistan (grades 8–12).
The programme offers scholarships for higher education in the areas of STEM education, sustainable energy, agriculture and food security, and health sciences (only applicable at the master’s level).
Neil Gray, the minister of international development, said: “We know that during a crisis, like we have seen in Pakistan, the impacts can too frequently affect women and girls. This funding for the British Council Pakistan is intended to ensure that more women and girls can study and to support the long-term economic recovery of the nation by doubling the number of school and university scholarships that are available.”
Since their introduction in 2013, these scholarships have allowed gifted women and girls from underprivileged backgrounds to finish their secondary education and pursue bachelor’s and master’s degrees in fields that are crucial to the overall development of the nation, according to British Council Pakistan Country Director Amir Ramzan.
The British Council will be able to continue empowering flood-affected women and girls and helping them realise their potential thanks to the increase in scholarship funding. Over 1400 young women in Pakistan have benefited from the Scotland Pakistan Scholarship Scheme since it was first introduced in 2013 in the university stream.
Over 15,000 schoolchildren have received support in the schools’ stream. Through the British Council Pakistan, the Scottish Government provides an annual $400,000 scholarship programme for Pakistani women and girls. The remaining 500,000 will be distributed equally between university scholarships (200,000) and school scholarships (300,000).