The initiative aims to equip aspiring accountants and financial professionals with international-level skills, ensuring academic rigor and professional integrity at every stage.

In this historic move, PBTE has appointed Mr. Naveed Rafaqat Ahmad, a renowned business analyst, financial strategist, and policy scholar as the Chief Evaluator for candidate admissions.

As per the new framework, all applicants seeking enrollment must first submit a case-suited research thesis, which will be assessed under Mr. Ahmad’s personal supervision.

Only those whose work meets the required standards of originality, analytical depth, and professional insight will qualify for admission.

Mr. Ahmad brings an extraordinary portfolio of experience to this role. He currently serves as Chief Financial Officer and holds the additional charge of Chief Executive Officer at the Punjab Model Bazaars Management Company (PMBMC), where his visionary leadership has transformed the organization from a dormant entity into a dynamic welfare-based public enterprise.

Beyond his executive achievements, Mr. Ahmad is a published scholar and peer reviewer for several reputed academic journals, with multiple research-based policy articles to his credit in the domains of governance, economic reform, and welfare innovation.

PBTE officials have hailed his inclusion as an exceptional milestone. “We will gain immense value from Mr. Ahmad’s analytical expertise and practical experience,” said a PBTE spokesperson. “His evaluation will set new benchmarks for quality assurance, and his judgment will be final and binding in determining candidate eligibility.”

The Secretary PBTE added that the entire initiative was shaped through Mr. Ahmad’s guidance: “This professional qualification could not have been launched without his intellectual input and hands-on engagement. He has not only designed the evaluative framework but also introduced international best practices to ensure transparency and merit.”

With this initiative, PBTE positions itself among forward-looking technical education bodies bridging the gap between academic learning and professional competency—while entrusting its foundation to one of Pakistan’s most accomplished financial reformers, Naveed Rafaqat Ahmad.

“This esteemed assessment, organized on behalf of the three Royal Colleges of Physicians in the UK, evaluates the clinical skills critical for physicians globally,” the university said in a statement last week.

The MRCP(UK) diploma is essential for all physicians who train in a medical specialty in the UK.

“The MRCP(UK) Part 2 written exam can be taken by physicians in training who have passed the MRCP(UK) Part 1 exam. It builds on the knowledge assessed in Part 1 and tests the acquisition of a representative sample of medical knowledge, skills and behaviour as specified in the UK Specialty Training Curriculum for Core Medical Training / Curriculum for Internal Medicine,” according to the institution.

The approval came after a four-day MRCP(UK) Pathfinder (mock) clinical examination held at AKU’s Center for Innovation in Medical Education (CIME) in Karachi.

It assessed AKU’s examination facilities, examiner proficiency, and logistical capabilities.

It provided a realistic and standardised environment, ensuring that candidates experienced the level of assessment necessary to meet international medical standards.

“Hosting this exam at CIME was an absolute honour,” Dr Faisal Ismail, the CIME Pakistan regional director, said. “It’s a significant step forward, reinforcing our commitment to high-quality healthcare education. We are excited to participate in this prestigious international assessment and anticipate more collaborations in the future.”

In addition to securing site approval, 14 faculty members from AKU Medical College, including Dr Muhammed Tariq and Dr Ismail, have been recognised by the Royal Colleges of Physicians, UK, as official MRCP(UK) PACES examiners.

The inaugural official MRCP(UK) PACES exam is set to take place in August 2025 at CIME, Karachi.

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Dr Tariq, who led this initiative, expressed gratitude to all stakeholders involved.

“This achievement reflects AKU’s dedication to excellence in healthcare education. Becoming an official MRCP(UK) PACES exam site and having 14 faculty members certified as international PACES examiners is a proud moment for AKU. We look forward to expanding our venues and expertise to more international partners in the future!”

Admit cards of the candidates can be downloaded from the LUMHS website (www.lumhs.edu.pk) with effect from 27.2.2025.

For any queries/ additional Information, candidates are advised to contact the Postgraduate Medical Centre, LUMHS Jamshoro on 022-921334022.

LUMHS at Jamshoro is 160km north of Karachi and 16km from the historical city of Hyderabad.

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The 11-year-old’s entry into school at the age of seven was a negotiation between teachers and her parents in her farming village on the outskirts of Karachi.

“Initially, many parents were not in favour of educating their children,” headteacher Rukhsar Amna told AFP.

“Some children were working in the fields, and their income was considered more valuable than education.”

Pakistan is facing a severe education crisis, with more than 26 million children out of school, the majority in rural areas, according to official government figures – one of the highest rates in the world.

This weekend, Pakistan will host a two-day international summit to advocate for girls’ education in Muslim countries, attended by Nobel Peace laureate and education activist Malala Yousafzai.

In Pakistan, poverty is the biggest factor keeping children out of classrooms, but the problem is worsened by inadequate infrastructure and underqualified teachers, cultural barriers and the impacts of climate change-fuelled extreme weather.

In the village of Abdullah Goth on the outskirts of Karachi, the non-profit Roshan Pakistan Foundation school is the first in decades to cater to the population of over 2,500 people.

“There was no school here for generations. This is the first time parents, the community and children have realised the importance of a school,” said Humaira Bachal, a 36-year-old education advocate from the public and privately funded foundation.

Still, the presence of a school was just the first hurdle, she added.

Families only agreed to send their children in exchange for food rations, to compensate for the loss of household income that the children contributed.

‘Education emergency’

In Abdullah Goth, most children attend school in the morning, leaving them free to work in the afternoon.

“Their regular support is essential for us,” said Aneesa’s father, Haroon Baloch, as he watched his daughter and niece pick okra to sell at the market.

“People in our village keep goats, and the children help graze them while we are at work. After finishing grazing, they also assist us with labour tasks.”

Education in Pakistan is also increasingly impacted by climate change.

Frequent school closures are announced due to heavy smog, heatwaves and floods, and government schools are rarely equipped with heating or fans.

In the restive provinces of Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, education faces significant setbacks due to ongoing militancy, while classes are routinely disrupted in the capital Islamabad due to political chaos.

Although the percentage of out-of-school children aged between five and 16 dropped from 44 per cent in 2016 to 36 per cent in 2023, according to census data, the absolute number rises each year as the population grows.

Girls all across the country are less likely to go to school, but in the poorest province of Balochistan, half of girls are out of school, according to the Pak Alliance for Maths and Science, which analysed government data.

Cash-strapped Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif declared an “education emergency” last year, and said he would increase the education budget from 1.7 per cent of GDP to 4 per cent over the next five years.

‘Education apartheid’

Public schools funded by the government offer free education but struggle with limited resources and overcrowding, creating a huge market for private schools whose costs can start from a few dollars a month.

In a parallel system, thousands of madressahs provide Islamic education to children from the poorest families, as well as free meals and housing, but often fail to prepare students for the modern world.

“In a way, we are experiencing an education apartheid,” said Adil Najam, an international relations professor at Boston University who has researched Pakistan’s education system.

“We have at least 10 different systems, and you can buy whatever quality of education you want, from absolutely abysmal to absolutely world-class.

“The private non-profit schools can prime the pump by putting (out) a good idea, but we are a country of a quarter billion, so these schools can’t change the system.”

Even young student Aneesa, who has set her mind on becoming a doctor after health professionals visited her school, recognises the divide with city kids.

“They don’t work in field labour like we do.”

In the small market of Abdullah Goth, dozens of children can be seen ducking in and out of street-side cafes serving truck drivers or stacking fruit in market stalls.

Ten-year-old Kamran Imran supports his father in raising his three younger siblings by working at a motorcycle workshop in the afternoons, earning 250 rupees ($0.90) a day.

Muhammad Hanif, the 24-year-old owner of the workshop, does not support the idea of education and has not sent his own children to school.

“What’s the point of studying if after 10 to 12 years, we still end up struggling for basic needs, wasting time and finding no way out?” he told AFP.

Najam, the professor, said that low-quality education was contributing to the rise in out-of-school children.

Parents, realising their children cannot compete for jobs with those who attended better schools, instead prefer to teach them labour skills.

“As big a crisis as children being out of school is the quality of the education in schools,” said Najam.

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and partner organisations offer awards to study in the UK for one year on a fully funded master’s degree course.

“Tuition fees, living expenses, travel visa, accommodation are all covered so you can study in the UK worry-free,” UK High Commissioner in Pakistan Jane Marriott said in a video statement.

“You are the future of Pakistan and Chevening offers a unique opportunity for you to be able to take this to the next level. Doesn’t matter the sector, gender, religion, or background, apply for Chevening!” she said

All Chevening applicants must submit their education documents, references, and one unconditional UK university offer. The deadlines for these required documents are in the Chevening application timeline.

The Education Testing Council (ETC), operating under HEC, will conduct the Higher Education Aptitude Test (HAT) to ensure a fair, accessible, and transparent evaluation of candidates.

The eligible candidates for this are individuals who have already submitted online applications for MS/MPhil and PhD admissions or HEC scholarships through the E-portal for further selection, and individuals planning to apply for future scholarship schemes, including those offered by HEC-sponsored Pakistani universities.

The applicants who are interested in securing admission to MS/MPhil and PhD programs in both public and private universities across Pakistan may take the test.

HAT Categories

The HAT will be conducted in five different categories, aligned with the applicants’ academic backgrounds and educational levels.

Candidates should register for the appropriate category based on their academic stream.

The test categories and their respective disciplines are as follows:

1. HAT 1: Engineering & Technology, Computer Science, Mathematics, Statistics, Physics

2. HAT 2: Management Sciences, Business Education

3. HAT 3: Arts and Humanities, Social Sciences, Psychology (Clinical & Applied), Law

4. HAT 4: Agriculture & Veterinary Sciences, Biological & Medical Sciences, Physical Sciences, Education, Media & Mass Communication

5. HAT-General: Religious Studies (Madrasa Graduates)

The HAT scores will remain valid for two years for scholarships and admissions to MS/MPhil and PhD programs. Applicants must select the correct category while filling out the online registration form.

The HAT is scheduled to take place on May 26, 2024, tentatively. Any changes to the test date will be communicated through the official websites of HEC and ETC.

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Application Process

Applicants who register through the HEC online registration process will be able to download their Roll Number Slips from the official website and their registered email address one week before the test date.

Registered applicants will also receive email and SMS notifications regarding the test date, time, and venue. Candidates should provide valid email/mobile numbers while filling out the application form to receive the Roll Number Slips.

Requirements on Test Day:

On the day of the test, candidates must bring a printout of their Roll Number Slip and their original CNIC (Computerized National Identity Card) to enter the Test Center.

How to Apply:

For online registration, visit the HEC official website.

In case of any difficulties during the registration process, refer to the online help portal.

Only submitted applications will be considered for the HAT, while applications in save or incomplete mode will not be entertained.

The test fee of Rs. 2000/- must be deposited through participating banks, ATMs, internet banking, or mobile banking services such as Easypaisa, JazzCash, or Upaisa.

Fee Verification and Important Notes

After depositing the fee, candidates should click on “Verify Online Payment” on the ETC Dashboard.

It is crucial to note that the test fee is non-refundable and non-transferable.

Candidates should resolve any queries or complaints before the closure of the web registration portal, as the system does not allow handling them beyond the registration deadline due to logistics and security reasons.

Candidates are strictly prohibited from carrying mobile devices or any electronic devices capable of calculating, recording, or imaging into the test center.

Uploading or sharing images of the question book is also strictly forbidden and considered an offense under ETC rules.

The deadline for online registration is May 8, 2024.

When Arab Shah’s five sisters had to quit their education due to lack of transport in Peshawar, he decided to provide free pick-and-drop services to schoolgirls when he grew up. And he did it.

It has been 10 years since he started working on his idea to address the transport problem in his hometown. Shah lives in the city’s Warsak Road area, a 30 to 35-minute drive from the main city.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s literacy rate is 55.1%, according to the literary statistics reflected in the Economic Survey 2022-23. The survey also stated that the province has 32% out-of-school children with more girls than boys deprived of education.

The provincial government website says that about 50% of the population is young.

“In 2014, I bought a rickshaw on rent and started free pick-and-drop through that,” Shah told Aaj News about his idea and how he has been able to work over the years.

The rickshaw driver stated that he provides free transport service to as many as 200 girls from schools, colleges, and madressahs daily. He performs his duty from 7:00am to 8:30am and then from 1:00pm to 2:30pm when the schools close.

Shah went on to add that he continued to provide service through rickshaw for five years, but then his story reached Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai who provided him with financial assistance by which he bought at least four Suzuki vans.

He has given one of them to a high school and the rest he operates for providing free rides.

“Because of her help, we got an advantage that earlier our service was limited to primary school but I also provide service to high school and college girls.”

Malala’s father Ziauddin Yousafzai confirmed to Aaj News that they provided financial support to Arab Shah so that girls could study because “his story and his work are very inspiring.”

In a message on X, formerly called Twitter, Ziauddin said that they got to know about him through social media and contacted him a few years ago.

He added that inflation and transport issues have made it difficult for families to meet financial expenses. Ziauddin praised the rickshaw driver for his work.

Shah vowed to expand his service to every district if given resources, saying: “Women’s education is very important because when they grow up and get married they will better nourish their children.”

According to a notification issued by the Secretary School Education Department, in pursuance of the Sindh Cabinet decision taken in a meeting held on April 03, the recruitment process of PSTs and JESTs qualified under Recruitment Policy 2021, has been restored except for those candidates whose matter is pending before court.

“The 20th edition of the QS World University Rankings features 1,500 institutions across 104 locations,” the education network said on its website.

This year, the QS introduced three new metrics: sustainability, employment outcomes and international research network. The rankings are compiled annually to help intended students identify the leading varsities in the world.

Three universities from the United States were among the top five universities.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the US led the ranking with a score of 100, followed by the University of Cambridge (99.2), University of Oxford (98.9), Harvard University (98.3), and Stanford University (98.1).

Imperial College London stood at the sixth position, ETH Zurich at seventh, National University of Singapore at eighth, UCL at ninth, and University of California, Berkeley at the 10th position.

The fourteen universities that made it to the ranking are:

• Quaid-i-Azam University (ranked 315 with an overall score of 33.4)

• National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST) Islamabad (ranked 367 with an overall score of 30.2)

• Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) (ranked 540 with an overall score of 21.8)

• Pakistan Institute of Engineering and Applied Sciences (PIEAS)

• COMSATS University Islamabad

• University of Agriculture, Faisalabad

• University of the Punjab

• University of Engineering & Technology (UET) Lahore

• University of Peshawar

• The University of Lahore

• University of Karachi

• Bahauddin Zakariya University

• International Islamic University, Islamabad (IIU)

• National University of Modern Languages (NUML)

“Media sciences schools offer a four-year degree and here it would be a one-year programme [diploma]. It is more practical,” Asadul Haq, the director of the school, told Aaj News at the open house of the institution on Sunday.

The institute offers a one-year diploma in filmmaking, directing, cinematography, and acting. It also has 25 hours of certificate courses and a master class which is three to four hours of intense learning sessions.

The students work on the studio floor of Studio 146, the main collaborator of KFS, and get trained to be placed in an internship program with the best-known industry players in media through our collaborations and partnerships with TV channels, production houses, post houses, OTT content develops and many more, the website of the school stated.

“We want to enable students in a year that when they pass out they can easily do jobs,” he said.

Haq went on to add that he wanted to share his learning in his 30 years of professional experience with students.

KFS Dean Zara Zaidi said that the institute has kept the same standard as international colleges.

Some of the students at the event praised the opening of the school and hoped that it would boost Pakistan’s cinema industry.

However, there are two versions of the test.

MDCAT NUMS is conducted by the National University of Medical Sciences (NUMS) and it is only valid for the aspiring students willing to join NUMS constituent and affiliated medical and dental colleges.

A list of NUMS constituent and affiliated medical and dental colleges could be found on the NUMS website here.

The other version of the MDCAT test is held under Pakistan Medical and Dental Council which is the successor of Pakistan Medical Commission.

This is the more widely known test and all the medical and dental colleges in the country, barring those linked with NUMS, require aspiring doctors to pass this test.

In 2023, NUMS held its MDCAT on September 4 while the main MDCAT was held on September 10.

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The main MDCAT, as we may call it to differentiate it from the NUMS one, is conducted by multiple universities in different provinces and territories. However, syllabus comes from the same source, namely PMDC.

The test is valid for all provinces and students have the choice to select the location from where they want to appear.

Overseas candidates also take the same test at centers set up in different countries.

In Balochistan, MDCAT is administered by the Bolan University of Medical and Health Sciences in Quetta.

In Sindh, the Jinnah Sindh Medical University (JSMU) conducts the test at venues in Karachi, Hyderabad, Shaheed Benazirabad and Larkana.

In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Khyber Medical University conducts MDCAT in Peshawar, Mardan, Swat, Kohat, Bannu, DI Khan, Abbottabad, Swabi and Malakand.

In the federal capital of Islamabad, Shaheed Zulfiqar All Bhutto Medical University (SZABMU) Islamabad conducts the test.

In Azad Jammu and Kashmir, SZABMU conducts MDCAT in Muzaffarabad, Mirpur, Rawalakot.

In Gilgit Baltistan, SZABMU conducts the test in Gilgit. The university also conducts the test at international venues in Riyadh and Dubai.

In Punjab, the University of Health Sciences Lahore conducts MDCAT at venues in Lahore, Gujranwala, Sialkot, Faisalabad, Multan, Bahawalpur, DG Khan, Sahiwal, Rawalpindi, Sargodha, and Gujrat.

In a meeting of the education department, it was decided that the academic year 2024-25 will start across the whole province simultaneously.

Authorities announced that the promotion of students to the next classes from nursery to class 3 will be done without exams.

For classes 4 to 8, exams will be held from the 15th to the 23rd of April while for classes 9 and 10, the board exams will be conducted in May.

It was announced that class 11 and 12 exams will take place in the last week of May.

The department affirmed that the results of the matriculation examinations will be declared on July 31, following the results of the Intermediate class on August 31.

Sindh Education Department shared that there would be 20% MCQs, 40% constructed questions, and 40% extended questions in the exams.

The summer vacations will start from June 1 and reopen on July 31 while winter vacations will be from December 21 to December 31.

They have compared the results of 2023 and 2022 to substantiate their argument pertaining to the high marks apparently secured by students. They claimed that this year at least 110 students got 190 marks out of 200, saying that last year two students were able to have such results.

MDCAT consists of multiple-choice questions. Each question carries 1 mark with no negative marking for wrong answers. The total score is 200. 68 questions are from Biology, 54 from Chemistry, 54 from Physics, 18 from English language, 6 from Logical reasoning.

The sharp reaction came after the Educational Testing and Evaluation Agency Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, which oversaw the exam mandatory for future doctors, shared the results on X.

The results summary showed that over 110 candidates obtained 190 or above marks out of the 46,439 registered candidates. Over 1,000 students received 180 to 189 marks.

When the students appeared for MDCAT on September 10, hashtag MDCAT was among the top trends of X because the paper was allegedly leaked a day earlier.

Many users were sharing pictures of the alleged paper.

On Tuesday, it was reported that the Higher Education Commission in KP had foiled cheating attempts in the province.

The cheating scheme involved cutting-edge technology in KP, according to HEC Secretary Aneela Mahfooz Durrani. The officials have apprehended dozens of students attempting to use covert Bluetooth devices for cheating.

They had received information that a group of people were planning to manipulate the entrance test by allegedly using hidden Bluetooth devices to transmit answers to students who had paid them.

Candidates have urged the PMDC to conduct a retest amid such reports.

It merits here to mention that the council would take the MDCAT separately for the students from flood-affected areas after caretaker Health Minister Nadeem Jan took the “sympathetic view” while making the decision. The exam would be taken after consultations with provincial governments.

The date for the exam has been the centre of controversy in the past, prompting interim Prime Minister to take notice of the situation.

There were also some posts, claiming that some of the questions were out of the syllabus while some answers to the queries were not true.

Many students were reported to be protesting against the paper leak in Sindh, demanding the Jinnah Sindh Medical University to reconduct exam and conduct inquiry against those who leaked the paper.

“Huge accomplishment of Bluetooth nothing else ,There can’t be so genius students to achieve 198 score in such technical test ,There must be some illegitimacy in the conducting process,” wrote one of the users on X.

“It is further clarified that the MDCAT examination is going to be convened nationwide on the already decided date ie 10 [of] September [Sunday], 2023,” said the statement issued on Friday.

MDCAT was among the top trends on social media last month after the examination body announced the date, but many aspirants opposed the August 27 date.

Later, it was revised after caretaker Prime Minister asked the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council to reschedule the MDCAT examination to September 10.

Meanwhile, the health ministry has decided to take the MDCAT separately for the students from flood-affected areas. Caretaker Health Minister Nadeem Jan took the “sympathetic view” to while making the decision, according to a statement. The exam would be taken after consultations with provincial governments.

Earlier in the day, Jan said in a social media post that the MDCAT exams would be delayed for a reasonable time to give aspirants more time to prepare for the exams. But hours later he retracted his post from X, formerly known as Twitter.

“In the best interests of Aspirant medics we would delay the MDCT exams for a reasonable time so they get more prepared. We care for you and would wish a reciprocation from all students. Health ministry will go extra miles for the relief of all Pakistanis,” he wrote on X on Friday morning. The post was later deleted from his Twitter handle @DrNadeemjan which is followed by PTV’s official handle among others.

On Thursday, he asked the relevant authority to look into the matter of MDCAT exams with “due sympathy” towards the students.

His statement came after students complained of not getting ample time to prepare for the medical college entry examination. Several aspirants took to social media and raised concerns over holding the MDCAT exams in September.

ANP leader Ameer Haider Khan Hoti questioned the manner in which the authorities were rushing to hold the exam, saying that the exams were held in October, and November in the past.

“The final FSC practical on August 28 and the MDCAT test on September 10 jeopardise the future of over 200,000 students Their hopes are in jeopardy!” he wrote on X.

Hoti urged the caretaker prime minister to intervene and protect the students’ futures.

The aspirants said that they have recently appeared in their FSC examinations and have not been able to prepare for the MDCAT exams.

The protests across the country and floods were also noted as likely hurdles for students to reach their examination centres.

Khushi, a commentator on X said that MDCAT should be delayed all over Pakistan and conducted on the same day in October. “It’s not fair to delay it in flood affected areas.”

Originally scheduled for August 27, the exam was rescheduled to September 10 after Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar issued a directive to give extra time to the students for preparation.

A few students also criticised holding the exams on two different dates. Reports circulated in the media that the Health Ministry is planning to hold the MDCAT for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab in October while students from other regions will appear in the exams in September.

Minahil, another student, called it unfair to take MDCAT in two parts.

“MDCAT should be on one day across the country,” she wrote.

Adnan Shoukat also called for conducting the exams on the same day for all provinces.

“#PMDC_DELAY_MDCAT and we want to conduct it on single across the country,” he wrote on X.

(With input from Web Desk)

The person in the second position had received 197 marks. There were four candidates in the third position after securing 195 marks. They were named Mansoor Khan, Shah Faisal Khan, Syed Aqeel Bacha, and Abdul Razzaq.

According to the results, Saifullah Imtiaz, Muqtasad Khan, Saifullah Khalid, Haleema, Anum Khan, and Saqlain Khan were in the fourth position after getting 194 marks.

MDCAT consists of multiple-choice questions. Each question carries 1 mark with no negative marking for wrong answers. The total score is 200. 68 questions are from Biology, 54 from Chemistry, 54 from Physics, 18 from English language, 6 from Logical reasoning.

Many social media users have expressed concerns over the results of the exam, which was conducted on September 10. On one hand, they claim that the paper was leaked a day before and on the other hand, they say some candidates used the latest technology to cheat in the exam, which is a must for the selection of future doctors.

Candidates can visit the official website of www.pmrc.org.pk to check their MDCAT results. They will have to enter the relevant information as it appeared on their admittance card to access their results.

The result can be checked in three ways: by entering name, roll number, or CNIC number. The candidates will also be informed about their results through email

As per the rules, the result of the MDCAT exam as communicated and issued shall be final. Exam review solely pertaining to the re-totaling of the exam score would be available.

The window for the review applications would be opened right after the announcement of the result.

The examination was held in around 31 cities across Pakistan to facilitate maximum number of candidates.

“We are delighted to announce that applications for Chevening Scholarships will open on September 12,” the Chevening Awards said in a social media post on Monday.

The scholarship provides students to pursue one-year master’s degrees in the UK.

These scholarships are fully-funded – including flights, accommodation, and course fees – and students were allowed to focus on achieving their professional goals and have experience.

Students can start preparing for the application from this link: http://chevening.org/scholarships.

All Chevening applicants are required to submit their education documents, references, and one unconditional UK university offer that they apply for through the application portal.

The deadlines for these required documents are in the Chevening application timeline.

“If you are conditionally selected for a Chevening Scholarship, it is essential that you submit these documents in order to remain in the process.”

Students say the examinations were cancelled due to the violent protests on May 9, 10, 11 and 12, and that they were not provided with appropriate options to appear in the examinations in the later days.

The educational activities were suspended in most parts of the country after violent riots broke out following the arrest of former prime minister Imran Khan from court premises on May 9.

The AS and A-Level results of Cambridge International Education were announced on August 10 with IGCSE and O-Level results scheduled to be announced next week.

The students were asked to either cancel their registration of May and June and take the exams in October and November or get an expected grade that came under special consideration, Hashir Javaid, wrote on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.

“Another option was to give one of the two exams that were cancelled and grade will be assessed on that but not all of the students were eligible for that. Cambridge just decided we weren’t eligible because they didn’t wanna do any extra work,” he wrote on X.

Under to CIE examination system, candidates cannot reuse coursework from a previous exam series. Therefore, candidates who withdraw from the June 2023 series and re-enter a later series will be required to submit new coursework for their new entry.

Expressing her support for the students, PML-N’s Maryam Nawaz Sharif urged the CIE to review the grading system for students who took their examinations in 2023 after countless students complained that they were given lower grades.

“Many hundreds have reached out voicing their dissatisfaction with the CIE grading this year,” she wrote on X.

Maryam endorsed the view that the grading was unfair towards Pakistani students.

“It appears that the grading this year has produced unfair results which has led to severe unrest & anxiety amongst the students. Expected A*s have ended up with Cs & Es. These students have worked incredibly hard, their university offers and future careers are dependent on the discretion that CIE exercises,” she added.

“It would be a welcome step if the CIE on grounds of fairness reviewed their grading system for this year.

In addition, the CIE should also consider the fact that Pakistani students sat their examination in times of unprecedented political turmoil where their security and safety were at risk. Kudos to all students who remained committed and still gave their best,“ the PML-N leader stated.

Malik Shehroze Iftikhar said that the overall threshold of most subjects was kept extremely high due to which several candidates failed to secure the desired grades.

“It’s not only about the cancelled papers (even though the situation of those subjects were mostly the worst), the overall threshold of most subjects were kept so extremely high, that most of the students in my college received D’s and E’s, for example in Business,” he added.

Another candidate complained of an unfair schedule, saying that they had to appear in three examinations on the same day.

Social activist and lawyer Jibran Nasir also joined the debate regarding the candidates’ complaints over the grading system in 2023.

“#Cambridge Exams. Since last night my WhatsApp has been flooded with messages and calls from students sharing grievances about the grading of their #Alevels exams apparently those which were cancelled due to the unrest caused on 9th May. Some of the messages were really distressing and worrying and I hope @CambridgeInt @pkBritish take notice,” he said.

He advised the students to raise their grievances effectively so one can determine if they are genuine and act accordingly to address their problems.

Each year, around 6,000 to 8,000 Pakistani students head to Australia for higher education.

“The Australia Education Office Pakistan sends around 2,500 to 3,000 Pakistani students to Australia for undergraduate and graduate programs yearly,” according to student counselor Syed M. Raahim Baseer, at a free information session held Monday in Karachi.

The AEO helps introduce Pakistani students to the requirements for entry to Australian universities.

Baseer added that it is essential for students to pick a course that is relevant to their field and what they studied. This increases their chances of university and visa acceptance.

The top two concerns for Pakistani students are scholarships and university rankings.

Macquarie University in Sydney is the most popular for Pakistani students because it offers a 10,000 AUD scholarship per year to students with a GPA of 3.0 or above. This is around 25% of yearly tuition.

The University of Adelaide provides 30% scholarships for most programs. A student must have a 3.0 or above GPA in order to be eligible.

Students who are more concerned with rankings apply to the University of Melbourne and the Australian National University as they are the top two in Australia.

Intermediate vs A-level

Students who have done their intermediate can also apply to Australian universities. According to Baseer, they tend to be those who have family or friends already living there. For every 700 students around 100 or so are from the HEC education system. The remaining are A-level students.

“It’s easier for A-level students to get a higher IELTS score due to their fluency in English,” he said.

Most intermediate students end up pursuing a diploma leading to a bachelor’s. Australian universities offer a one-year diploma course for students with weak English. After the diploma, students move on to the second year of their bachelor’s degree.

Most undergraduate degree programs in Australia are usually three years long. Engineering programs are normally four years long.

According to Baseer, most students don’t return to Pakistan after completing their degrees. “They don’t usually move elsewhere or come back because Australia makes it easy for them to stay. So they apply for jobs and permanent residence.”

He was addressing a press conference here on Wednesday. He clarified that the government cannot tell universities to reduce their fees.

He said the government only takes steps to make the fee of government universities accessible to the general public.

The Punjab government has set up 21 new universities in 4 years and encouraged universities in the private sector.

He said that on private members day all private universities acquiring a charter have been mandated to start enrollment of students after implementing all the rules and regulations being set by the Higher Education Department (HED) and the Higher Education Commission (HEC).

The Higher Education Department of Punjab (PHED) will assist these universities and their cases will be sent to the HEC within 10 days. When they meet all legal requirements and get approvals, they will be given permission to open enrollment in Punjab.

Humayun said the HEC Punjab has the legal right to check a university and immediately recommend action on violation of rules and regulations.

To a question on the appointment of the Vice Chancellor of Punjab University, he said that a search committee has been formed by the government which will soon send its recommendations.

There is nothing necessarily wrong with private education and there is nothing wrong with education that imparts a solid foundation in English by using the global lingua franca as the medium of instruction. However, something is wrong with a system that only provides decent instruction and critical thinking skills thru an EEEEE track to the exclusion of all others i.e., public education, madrassas, and non-elite private schools. And everything is definitely wrong with a system that does not impart basic literacy in the vernacular to all members of society.

This flight of intellectual capital produced by elite education sets the stage for the flight of any intellectual capital that the public system produces

Today Pakistan’s educational landscape is a barren wasteland where, as is well known, over 25 million children of school going age are not in schools. Meanwhile the children of the elite, who likely represent about one percent (1%) of the country’s entire student body, receive excellent private education. The problem is this: Many, if not most, students graduating from the EEEEE track have only one dream, which is to get out of Pakistan, aka brain-drain. Hence the precious resources that the country invests in creating these bright scholars goes down the tube.

This flight of intellectual capital produced by elite education sets the stage for the flight of any intellectual capital that the public system produces, as meagre as it may be. And why fault a student from an underprivileged background, who overcame insurmountable odds to succeed, from wanting to tread the same path as his better off contemporaries. For them, the desire to leave Pakistan is also underpinned by the harsh indignities that the poor face on a daily basis in our highly stratified and class-conscious society.

When the subject of the flight of intellectual capital and the reasons for it is brought up, the counterargument often is to point at the billions that overseas Pakistanis remit back home. Lost in this noise is the fact that no matter how many dollars our overseas compatriots send, these never seem to be enough. More to the point, the much more valuable contributions that educated citizens could make directly towards the development of a more robust economy and a more civilized society are lost. It is the educated and literate who contribute to creating the surplus that becomes the backbone of economies like China. As Tim Cook says, Apple produces its computers in China not because it is the cheapest place but because the People’s Republic has a skilled workforce.

A fill-up of a Prado or Land-Cruiser may be about the same as the driver’s salary

There are many genuine social sector organizations who are providing great services in the health and education sectors alleviating the suffering of the disadvantaged. However, the work they are doing achieves barely more than putting band-aids on terminal cancer. Even after receiving decent medical care or good vocational training, an illiterate or semiliterate person has to return to the same morass of misery and injustice with little chance of upping their social status, exceptions notwithstanding. The possibility of social mobility is bleak in Pakistan and is evidenced by the continuous fall of our Human Development Index: 149 in 2018; 154 in 2020; 161 in 2022.

Without taking anything away from the good work that some social sector organizations are doing, their endeavors provide an excuse to the state not to take matters more seriously or as seriously as it should when it comes to education and health. They also offer an avenue to the elite to throw charity at the destitute but without changing the structures of class, privilege, and exclusion. An example of this would be the non-provision of fair wages or a living wage to workers and servants despite possession of wealth. A fill-up of a Prado or Land-Cruiser may be about the same as the driver’s salary.

Only countries that invested in a strong and fair public education system have achieved a decent level of development, and anyone who feels that EEEEE will eventually, miraculously, deliver us to the promised land is living in delusion. One suspects this is the hope of our highly elitist establishment but data and research would fly in the face of such thinking. It is the basic literacy that good public education produces that forms the foundation of a robust society by creating possibilities for social mobility. It certainly formed the foundations of the Asian Tigers, and others like Iran, and perhaps even Bangladesh can now be included in this list. A literate person can better think, analyze, improvise, create. An illiterate person is compromised. Why do our rulers not understand this basic truth?

The writer holds a PhD in Education and can be reached at aah835@mail.harvard.edu

Homebridge by Beaconhouse is Pakistan’s first hybrid Cambridge International A Level school.

Over 40,000 students in Pakistan sat the AS & A Level exams in 2022 from over 250 schools across the country.

According to a press release issued by the CIE on Monday, this exclusive partnership will offer students Cambridge programmes online, with online lectures and teachers. Students will have access to Beaconhouse campuses for extracurricular activities, libraries, and labs.

This programme could serve students in parts of Pakistan where finding a Cambridge International school might be difficult.

The agreement was signed at Cambridge International’s head office, in Cambridge UK. It was signed by Nassir Kasuri, who is the director for the Beaconhouse Group. “As the world goes through a digital transformation, it is an opportune time for both organisations to work together on a hybrid school that will make A Levels accessible to a new group of students, breaking social barriers, as well as Pakistan’s widely prevalent gender gap in education.”

Other members of Cambridge International’s senior management team also attended the ceremony, including Uzma Yousuf, Country Director, Pakistan; Ian Harris, Deputy Director, Marketing Communications; and Jonathan Hardy, Head of Schools Development.

The agreement was signed by Nassir Kasuri and Rod Smith, Managing Director, International Education, Cambridge International.

If you are doing research into which programme and university might be the best choice, this ranking could help. It breaks down 74 subject areas and compares the quality of universities.

• Six Prime Ministers and two Presidents of Pakistan have studied at Oxford
• A typical graduate degree at Oxford costs £45,000 a year
• 20 Pakistani students every year cannot accept offers from Oxford because they cannot afford it
• Only 12 undergraduate and 45 graduate students attended Oxford in 2021

Career counsellors in Pakistan advise students to look beyond the UK, US and Canada for cheaper options which are just as good.

For example, the Times Higher Education says Peking University ranks No 16 globally and Tsingua University is another option. You can find the world rankings here. This system allows you to also see which Pakistan universities rank. Quaid-e-Azam University, for example, appears on top.

This year, the highest number of 166 Pakistani students, 86 men and 80 women, have received scholarships to study in universities in the European Union, said the EU’s Mission spokesperson in Islamabad on Wednesday.

The event, organized in collaboration with the Higher Education Commission (HEC) in Islamabad, celebrated the success of the Erasmus Mundus Joint Master scholarship holders and provided an opportunity for networking amongst peers and Erasmus+ Alumni.

The EU Chargé d’Affaires added, “The results of the scholarship’s selection demonstrate that Pakistani students are well prepared and that the Pakistani universities provide them with the necessary skills to compete at the global level.” He added that he is particularly pleased to see more students from Pakistan have accessed the Erasmus+ programme.

This year 3,013 students from 133 countries were selected for the Erasmus Mundus Joint Master scholarships. Pakistan was 1st in the world of scholarships awarded and remained the top country in terms of scholarship applications.

Higher Education Commission Chairman Dr. Mukhtar Ahmed, representatives from the EU Member States, and the Erasmus+ Alumni Association members also attended the event.

Faiza Younis bagged the first position in the humanities group, while Tooba Abdul Basit did the same in the pre-medical group. Hadi Noor Ahmed and Iqra Mehmood also secured top positions in the pre-engineering and science general groups respectively.

A total of 75,368 students participated in the exams. 61,741 of those students were declared successful, with the success rate 83.35 per cent.

The Federal Board held a ceremony to honour the position holders. Federal Minister for Education and Special Training was the chief guest at the event. Higher Education Commission (HEC) Chairman Dr Mukhtar Ahmed and parents of high-performing students attended the ceremony.