Peshawar   -   The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Minister for Higher Education, Archives, and Libraries, Meena Khan Afridi, emphasized the need to provide maximum opportunities for international scholarships to students during a meeting on Tuesday. He directed the concerned authorities of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Education Foundation (KPEF) to establish connections with different donor agencies and forums to create more scholarship opportunities for students.

During the meeting, Managing Director Fazal Khaliq and other directors were present. The provincial minister was briefed about the functions, activities, and initiatives of the KPEF. The foundation’s main objective is to promote, develop, and finance education in the private sector in line with the government’s education policy. Additionally, it grants scholarships, stipends, and fellowships to students based on merit-cum-affordability in public, private, and autonomous institutions.

Discussions also revolved around various funds of the KPEF, including the endowment fund and the Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Scholarship Program under CPEC. Moreover, the establishment of 16 degree colleges for girls in 2002-2003 and the enrollment of around 57,000 students from 2002 to 2017 were highlighted.

The ongoing programs of the foundation, such as NAVTTC training under the “Prime Minister’s Youth Skills Development Program” for district Kohat, professional development courses, capacity-building courses, and inland scholarships, were also discussed. The foundation is moving towards digitalization, aiming to make all its offices paperless.

Meena Khan directed KPEF authorities to provide scholarship opportunities to orphans at the college and university levels to facilitate their higher education. He emphasized the importance of soft training courses, stating that various professional skills can help control unemployment. Regarding digitalization, the minister instructed to pursue the digitalization case with the University of Engineering and Technology Peshawar.