Wednesday, July 28, 2010
By Our Correspondent

LAHORE

Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has said all possible resources of Punjab are available for talented students and revolutionary steps are being taken to polish their talent.

He said the newly-constructed building of Punjab House Murree, built at a cost of millions of rupees, had been reserved for educational activities and a Youth Talent Development Centre was being set up there. He said an auditorium would also be built in Murree for holding seminars and discussions on educational and scientific topics and training courses for students.

He was presiding over a meeting on the use of the newly-constructed building of Punjab House Murree for educational activities here on Tuesday.

The chief minister said the newly-constructed building had been handed over to the Punjab Educational Endowment Fund and it would be used for educational activities of position-holder students both in curricular and cocurricular fields. He said the decision to convert Punjab House into an education centre was an effort to provide resources to talented students who were the future of Pakistan and had shown their talent despite financial constraints. He said educational delegations proceeding abroad, students studying in foreign universities with the help of the Punjab government, position-holder students of various boards and special children would benefit from the Punjab House building.

He said for the first time students from district, tehsil and Markaz level would also be included in educational activities at the centre. “The Punjab Educational Endowment Fund has been set up first time in history of the country to enable poor but talented students complete their studies. Scholarships are also being awarded from the fund to students studying in prestigious universities of the country while 13 poor but talented students are being sent to leading foreign universities this year for higher studies in mathematics, IT, physics, engineering and medicine,” he added.

He said next year the number of students to foreign universities would be increased and students of other provinces as well as Azad Kashmir would also be sent abroad for higher studies.

“Premier foreign universities have been selected for students for higher studies. Talented students will also be sent to Ivy League universities. Thirteen students who have been sent to foreign universities belong to the poorest of the poor segment of society and they will play an important role in the development of the country after completion of their studies,” he added. He said an effective awareness campaign should be launched among students and parents about the Punjab Educational Endowment Fund so that maximum students could benefit from it.