ISLAMABAD: As many as 148 Pakistani students are set to leave for study in Hungarian universities under the Stipendium Hungaricum Scholarship Programme.

The Higher Education Commission (HEC) on Friday held a send-off ceremony to award certificates to the scholarship winners. As many as 111 students have been selected for undergraduate, 28 for master’s and nine for PhD programmes.

Minister for Education Rana Tanveer Hussain attended the ceremony as chief guest through a video link. HEC Chairman Dr Mukhtar Ahmed, Executive Director Dr Shaista Sohail and Charge d’Affaires (Embassy of Hungary) Tivadar Takacs attended the ceremony, which was also attended by a number of vice chancellors, faculty members and alumni.

Congratulating the scholarship winners, the minister said it was an excellent opportunity for students to enhance their knowledge and skills and get international exposure. He advised students to fully utilise their potential and talent in their respective areas of study so they could play a role in further improving harmony between Pakistan and Hungary.

Dr Ahmed appreciated the support from the Hungarian government for higher studies of Pakistani students. He said a large number of Nobel laureates are the graduates of Hungarian institutions, which is also food for thought for Pakistan as it continues its journey of strengthening higher education institutions.

He urged the Hungarian government to enhance the number of scholarships for Pakistani students. Shedding light on the background of the scholarship programme, Dr Shaista Sohail said these scholarships began in 2015 with award of 80 scholarships, which was increased to 200 every year in 2017.

She highlighted that the government of Hungary has shown interest in continuing the cooperation and renew memorandum of understanding (MoU) for 200 scholarships annually for the next three years from 2023-2025. She underlined that a total of 772 scholarships, including for 565 bachelor’s, 161 master’s, and 46 PhD programmes were awarded to students from 2016 to 2021.

Mr Takacs wished best of luck to the students departing for Hungary and assured that the Hungarian educational system will not pose any unpredictable obstacles for them in their pursuit of knowledge and higher education.

He said that the students going to Hungary have great potential as they have been selected from within a very high number of applicants.

Published in Dawn, August 27th, 2022