The China Study Centre (CSC) at Karakoram International University (KIU) under the “China-Pakistan Friendship–Ambassadorial Merit-cum-Need Scholarship” has awarded scholarships to 130 students. The scholarship grant is supported by the Embassy of China in Pakistan.
In a ceremony held on August 24, an amount of Rs. 5.2 million was distributed among 130 students, with each scholarship recipient receiving Rs.40,000.
As the scholarship programme intends to encourage gender balance, 50% of the scholarships were awarded to female students on KIU’s main campus and sub-campuses.
The scholarship programme has also the criterion of awarding half of the scholarships based on merit and the other half on the basis of need, which was fulfilled by the CSC KIU.
Talking to Gwadar Pro, Professor Dr Khalid Mehmood Alam said the programme aims to help students in Gilgit Baltistan with financial assistance get quality education. “This is an excellent initiative by the Chinese Embassy that not only promotes quality education in the region but also improves gender balance, as 50% of the scholarships go to female students,” he added.
Under this programme, 80 scholarships were awarded to students of the KIU main campus in Gilgit. They include 80 students enrolled in undergraduate programs while 30 scholarships were awarded to MS and PhD scholars.
KIU Ghizer Campus, KIU Diamer Campus, and KIU Hunza Campus received 20, 20 and 15 scholarships respectively.
CSC at KIU has been an establishment to provide a base to learn not only about Chinese society but also a window of opportunity to take advantage of this platform via developing research collaborations in China.
The centre provides an opportunity for its students to study the geo-strategic and geo-economic dimensions of the Chinese Belt and Road initiative (BRI) and CPEC to understand their long-term impact on Pakistan. The institution also aims to develop human resources for the implementation of the CPEC Long Term Plan and the development of the capacity of Pakistani universities for providing policy inputs to the government on the challenges emerging in the wake of the implementation of the CPEC Long Term Plan.
