ISLAMABAD, Sept 16: A Senate body on Tuesday recommended sending a fact finding mission to Cuba after Eid to oversee the condition of Pakistani medical students there.

The Senate Standing Committee on Education, which met here under the chairpersonship of Senator Razina Alam Khan to consider the plight of the medical students in Cuba, said the mission should include at least one Senator as its member.

The committee unanimously proposed Dr Kausar Firdous as representative of the Senate for inclusion in the delegation.

It recommended that the Pakistani students studying in Cuba be provided return tickets at least twice during the entire duration of the course so that they could meet their family members and their monthly stipends be increased from 50 to 100 euros immediately, besides initiating other measures for their welfare like uninterrupted internet and telephone connections and better transport facilities.

The Senate body also directed the Higher Education Commission to take the PMDC on board on the issue. It observed that concerns of the parents must be addressed and allayed.

A number of members of the committee reminded that a few years back a similar situation had arisen as the PMDC had serious problems with the private medical colleges since they were lacking in some facilities which were needed before issuing them accreditation.

They wanted an assurance that the same would not happen to Pakistani students who were studying medicine in Cuba once they complete their courses study and return to Pakistan for practicing the medical profession. They recommended that instead of teaching the Spanish language to these students in Cuba, the language training be given to them in Pakistan.

Earlier, Senator Raza Muhammad Raza, who had visited the Medical City in Cuba where the Pakistani students are studying, informed the Senate committee that the curriculum being taught over there was different from that of Pakistan and the students have reservations whether they are going to get medical degrees. He said the students were worried about their future.

Chairman HEC informed the Senate body that he held three meetings with the Cuban ambassador in Islamabad over the issue, who had categorically held out an assurance that the Pakistani students would get a degree which is being recognized by the WHO and that students of as many as 27 countries are studying there.

He said the HEC was in touch with Pakistan’s ambassador in Cuba as well as with the PMDC and parents of the students. He termed the concerns as being without any foundation, adding that the PMDC had no jurisdiction over foreign countries and their universities. The issue, therefore, has to be resolved internally and amicably, he added.

Representative of the Ministry of the Foreign Affairs submitted before the Senate body that the FO and the ambassador to Cuba were in touch with the students. “We are grateful to the Cuban government for providing 1,000 Cuban scholarships to the Pakistani medical studies,” she said.

She said it was a gift to the country as there was no tuition fee for the students and they are being provided free residential facilities, food and books.

The meeting urged the government to urgently provide funding for setting up nine new universities as part of the expansion programme. It expressed its concern over non-release of funds allocated to the HEC and a cut of Rs6 billion in the last year’s budget, as a result several universities have to borrow as much as Rs1.5 billion from the banks to pay salaries to their staffs.

The chairperson informed the committee that she had met the prime minister in this connection and apprised him of the situation. She said that the expansion project would be jeopardised if the funds already allocated were not provided. She said the committee would hold a meeting with the Finance Division in this connection after Eid.

The meeting was attended, besides the chairperson of the committee, by Senators Mrs Tahira Latif, Rehana Yahya Baloch, Syed Javed Ali shah, Dr Muhammad Said, Liaqat Ali Bangulzai, Sajid Mir, Prof Muhammad Ibrahim Khanand and Dr. Kausar Firdous on special invitation. Chairman HEC Dr. Atta-ur-Rehman and senior officials of the HEC were also present on the occasion.