Pakistan funds fellowships for 60 students
Dr. S. Sohail H. Naqvi, executive director of Pakistan’s Higher Education Commission and AIT President Said Irandoust shake hands after signing an agreement that provides funding for Pakistani master’s students over three years.
Pakistan’s Higher Education Commission and the Asian Institute of Technology inked an agreement on 26 July 2006 that funds 60 engineering master’s students over the next three years.
Pakistan’s contribution, which supports three-fourths of 20 students’ tuition annually plus related fees and expenses, totals US$1.27 million over three years. AIT will cover the other one-fourth of tuition for the students. Eleven students beginning in the upcoming August semester fall under the program.
The objective of the program is to provide higher education opportunities for Pakistani professionals in order to develop human resources necessary for achieving long-term sustainability in Pakistan.
“Collaboration is something we would really like to promote,” said Dr. S. Sohail H. Naqvi, executive director of the Higher Education Commission and a signer of the agreement. “But more than that is capacity building.”
Dr. Naqvi noted Pakistan’s need for qualified engineers in various fields because of the country’s rapid development and earthquake-prone geography.
Over the years, AIT has graduated 673 Pakistanis. As a member of the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization, Pakistan was a founding member of AIT in 1959, and its ambassador to Thailand has retained a seat on the board of trustees.
“With AIT we have a very long association,” said H.E. Lt. Gen. (Ret.) Khateer Hasan Khan, Pakistan’s ambassador to Thailand. “This is a step further to furthering our relations,” he said of the fellowship agreement.
AIT formally collaborates with several universities in Pakistan and is currently in the final stages of developing a plan for a center in Pakistan devoted to human resource capacity building in the field of telecommunications.
“Being actively present in Pakistan will catalyze relations with Pakistani institutions,” said AIT President Said Irandoust, who also signed the agreement.
Pakistan’s Higher Education Commission has been set up to facilitate the development of universities to be world-class centers of education, research and development. The long-term effects of funding such fellowships stand to increase the number of teaching professionals in those institutions.
Also present for the signing were: Prof. Vilas Wuwongse, vice president for external relations; Prof. Peter Haddawy, vice president for academic affairs; Prof Worsak Kanok-Nukulchai, dean, School of Engineering and Technology; Prof. Sivanappan Kumar, dean, School of Environment, Resources and Development; Dr. Jonathan Shaw, director, AIT Extension; Dr. Sununta Siengthai, School of Management; Dr. Naveed Anwar, SET; Mr. Sanjeev Jayasinghe, head, External Relations and Communications Office; Ms. Naina Shakya, program officer, External Relations and Communications Office; and Mr. Ralf Kircher, news and media specialist.