Daily Times

The Alkhidmat Foundation organized the Annual Convention of its Academic Scholarship Program at the organization’s central office, drawing a diverse group of participants from various fields of life.

Prominent attendees included Secretary General of Alkhidmat Foundation Pakistan and Chairman of Alkhidmat Education Program, Syed Waqas Jafri, National Director of Education Dr. Ahmad Jibran, Head of the Physiotherapy Department at CMH Lahore Dr. Qudsia Shamim, university heads of departments, professors, students, and Alkhidmat academic scholars.

Ali Arsalan, the manager of the Alkhidmat Academic Scholarship Program, hosted the event. The ceremony recognized high-achieving students with awards, while new scholarship holders were presented with their certificates.

During the convention, participating students took an oath to pursue higher education and contribute to the nation’s development.

In his address, Syed Waqas Jafri highlighted the concerning statistic that over 26.2 million children in Pakistan are out of school. He noted that many students, particularly at the higher education level, are forced to abandon their studies due to a lack of financial resources. He emphasized the importance of the Alkhidmat Academic Scholarship Program, calling it a beacon of hope for such students.

Jafri further stated that the program currently supports 1,174 deserving students from across Pakistan, including Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan, providing scholarships regardless of race, religion, or political affiliation.

He shared that, to date, 5,411 students have completed their education with the help of Alkhidmat scholarships. This includes 651 doctors, 715 engineers, 1,194 BS Honors/Masters students, 260 associate engineers, 530 graduates, and 2,061 intermediate-level students. Alkhidmat has awarded a total of PKR 536.1 million in scholarships to these students. Dr. Mushtaq Ahmad Mangat highlighted the significant role Alkhidmat’s volunteers play in completing large-scale projects. “We have registered 27,000 online volunteers and aim to increase this to one million,” he said.