OIC-backed institution announces 500 scholarships for Palestinians at Pakistani universities

ISLAMABAD: A spokesperson for the Pakistani chapter of COMSTECH, the Ministerial Standing Committee on Scientific and Technological Cooperation of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), told Arab News on Wednesday the institution would give 500 fully funded scholarships to Palestinian students and scholars over the next two years. 
COMSTECH was established by 57 OIC member states at the platform’s Islamic Summit in Makkah in 1981. One of its main goals is to enhance member states’ capabilities in science and technology.
The scholarships for Palestinian students were first announced on Tuesday by Dr. M. Iqbal Choudhary, the COMSTECH coordinator general in Islamabad.
The new grants are not a part of the existing quota of 100 yearly scholarships reserved for Palestinian students by the Pakistani government but new scholarships which COMSTECH has launched under a special program to cover research fellowships, technician training and workshop grants for all disciplines.
“These are 500 fully funded scholarships which will be given to undergraduate and postgraduate level students in partnership with the Association of Private Sector Universities of Pakistan (APSUP), and member institutions of the COMSTECH Consortium of Excellence,” COMSTECH media adviser Murtaza Noor told Arab News, explaining that the initiative by the OIC-established institution was being supported by 24 private and 14 public sector Pakistani universities.
“The work on scholarships will start by the end of this month and they will be offered in the coming academic year, which is starting from September this year at most universities,” Noor said. “Each scholarship will cost around one million Pakistani rupees on average,” he added, saying that the amount could be increased depending on the discipline and whether the student planned to attend a private or a public university.
Noor said COMSTECH had decided to launch the initiative given that years of violence and conflict had “systematically destroyed the educational and socio-economic infrastructures of the Palestinian state.”
“In order to support them, COMSTECH has taken this initiative as higher education is our mandate and we want to provide them modern education at the best Pakistani universities,” Noor said. “We will cover students’ travel, other logistics, stay, academics and all other expenses.”
He said students needed to be residents of the state of Palestine or Palestinian refugees to be eligible for the scholarships.
“For selection, students shall meet eligibility criteria of the university for their respective discipline,” Noor said. “COMSTECH is establishing a project management unit with collaboration of universities to implement the scholarship scheme. We will also involve Palestinian embassy in Islamabad in the selection process to verify the nationality of these students.”
Palestinian Ambassador to Pakistan Ahmed Rabei conveyed his gratitude to Pakistan for providing the opportunity to Palestinian students to study at its institutions.
“We are grateful to Pakistan for opening up its educational institutions for Palestinian students,” the envoy said. “Our thanks go to COMSTECH for it’s initiative in cooperation with the government of Pakistan. This new scholarships scheme will be very beneficial for Palestinian students.”