CURRENTLY more than 400 Pakistani PhD and master’s students are studying in different Chinese universities under the cultural exchange programme run by the Inter-Provincial Coordination Committee (IPCC) of the Pakistan government. They are facing financial issues.

The government is simply not paying the subsidy which it had promised. Students, who were scrutinised from the whole country after a tough NTS test, have to rely solely on the monthly stipend given by the Chinese Scholarship Council, the Government of China, which is sufficient to feed them only with careful use of the money.

The programme was initiated in 2007-2008, and students were paid subsidies for the first five years, but it has been stopped since 2011 as the fund has still to be re-issued by the government for the said programme.

Upon contacting the authorities concerned, it is said that the matter will be resolved as soon as possible. In such a situation, it has become a serious problem for the students to concentrate on their research, while struggling with the financial crisis.

The government is requested to speed up the process as it has already taken two years to start financing the intellectuals of the homeland.

ADIL ZAMAN PhD student Shandong University Jinan, China