The Higher Education Commission (HEC) on Wednesday held a pre-departure session for 166 Pakistani students, 86 men and 80 women, who have won scholarships and will soon leave for different European countries to study under the Erasmus+ Scholarship Programme.
Moving up from third place last year, Pakistan has been ranked first in the world for number of scholarships awarded under the Erasmus Mundus scholarships this year, as a total of 3,013 students from 133 countries have been selected for the scholarships.
Addressing the ceremony, Dr. Mukhtar Ahmed congratulated the Pakistani students on their selection and advised them to play the role of Pakistani ambassadors to portray the real face of Pakistan through their performance and character.
Regarding the enormous increase in the number of scholarship winners, he said, “it is important to be first, in terms of numbers, in winning the scholarship, but it is more important to maintain the tempo in the coming years.”
The Erasmus+ Programme is a prestigious, integrated, international study programme, jointly delivered by an international consortium of higher education institutions.
It is designed to support programme countries efforts to benefit from European knowledge institutions in a lifelong learning perspective. It is a programme for education, training, youth and sport for 2021–2027.