MUHAMMAD SALEEM

LAHORE: Punjab government has sanctioned an amount of over Rs 700 million for extending scholarships to the students of Bahawalpur, Rahim Yar Khan and Bahawalnagar districts under the Punjab Educational Endowment Fund (PEEF).

Sources in the PEEF said that scholarships will be distributed among over 18,000 students studying at different educational level from school to university in these districts.

“The PEEF is not merely an expenditure made by the Punjab government but an investment in talented youth for a bright future of Pakistan,” the sources added.

It may be noted that PEEF was initially established with seed money of Rs 2 billion, which has now been raised to Rs 16 billion. Punjab government has allocated another Rs 4 billion for the FY 2016-17. Only the investment proceeds out of this fund are utilized for the award of scholarships.

“The PEEF endeavours to bring best educational opportunities to the less privileged and talented youth of Punjab, and bring them at par with the most fortunate ones. The PEEF is a proactive scholarship scheme which provides funds at the doorstep of the talented and deserving students. Allocation of these scholarships is on the basis of tehsil and district wise results of students. More focus of these scholarships is towards the 16 less developed districts, especially from southern Punjab,” the sources said.

The sources said the PEEF is also providing opportunity for higher education to the talented and needy students of other provinces - AJK, FATA, Gilgit Baltistan and Islamabad Capital Territory through this program. Since the commencement of its operations in 2009; the PEEF so far has awarded more than 150,000 scholarships worth more than Rs 7.5 billion and with the inclusion of current years (2016-17) scholarships, the total number of awards will reach about 200,000, the sources claimed.

The sources said a well-established higher education programme is essential for the creation of a knowledge-based economy.

“Punjab aims to move its economy to high productivity, for which a vibrant higher education sector is critical. To create a knowledge-based economy, an entire infrastructure of facilities is required which provides the “software” for economic growth by creating a highly skilled pool of workers and an enabling environment for firms, the sources said.

“A better-educated workforce results in adoption of more efficient production technologies and improved labor productivity. Punjab aims to focus on demand side intervention and to increase the capacity of human resource by imparting quality education,” they added.