Daily Times

Pakistani students who aspire to study at the prestigious Oxford University can now apply for a scholarship.

The Oxford Pakistan Programme (OPP) has launched the Tareen Oxford Scholarship, which would allow meritorious individuals to study at the University of Oxford’s Kellogg College for free.

According to the OPP, the scholarship will be provided to students who have an entrance offer for one of the qualified graduate courses offered at the University of Oxford’s Kellogg College but are unable to arrange the necessary funds.

“Preference will be given to students for whom the scholarship will be a life-changing opportunity and who have the potential and commitment to contribute to the development of South Punjab,” the statement read.

Graduate scholarships are being granted to excellent Pakistani and British Pakistani students in order to pay them for tuition and living expenses.

The scholarship is made available thanks to the goodwill of Ali Tareen, son of Jahangir Tareen. Ali is a Kellogg College graduate, and the scholarship will be formed as a five-year scheme, with cash donated annually and distributed on a rolling basis.

The Tareen Scholarship is one of the first scholarship initiatives targeted at students from South

Punjab and will also be a significant step towards creating a more diverse and inclusive academic community at Oxford.

To facilitate the students, the Tareen Oxford Scholarship in partnership will organize a customized programme for students from South Punja which will consist of two initiatives:

• An access programme for final year students applying for graduate degrees, which will feature an Access Conference for final year students from South Punjab who are in the process of applying for M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees abroad. The top 20 attendees at the Access Conference will be offered one-on-one mentorship with an Oxford student or recent alumni, free of cost.

• For FSc toppers & first-year public sector university toppers, 100 students will be selected from South Punjab who have either topped their F.Sc. boards or obtained the highest marks in their first year at university. These students will be provided mentorship on how to make the most of their next three to four years, guidance on career prospects, and one-on-one mentorship to help them aspire to be the best minds globally.

According to the programme, some 30 Pakistani students are given graduate admission offers each year to study at Oxford, but they are unable to accept the offers due to financial constraints. Hundreds of other talented students also decide against applying to Oxford for the same reason.