International scholarship expo held for Chitrali students

This expo was designed for students belonging to Chitral having qualifications from intermediate to master level in any subject who are living in the twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad. The participants were given an opportunity to interact with different alumni who gave them presentations and consultation on different scholarship programme such as Fulbright, Erasmus, AusAid, Chinese, SUSI, UGRAD and YES etc. Raja Nazim Ul Amin, Vice Chairman Gilgit-Baltistan Investment Board, was the chief guest. Throughout the day, students and professionals visited the expo and interacted with representatives from national and international educational institutions for career guidance and information. “This expo is a very good opportunity for students of Chitral to interact with the International Scholarship Holders, to discuss available opportunities,” said the chief guest. A recent Erasmus graduate, Kisa Fatima and Ajay Tanwani, provided the students information on Erasmus and IELTS for foreign universities. Kisa said anything which is stopping you from applying to these scholarship is not something impossible, you just need to trust yourself and have good intentions to achieve it. A number of professionals including university and development sector experts also visited the expo, for information on postgraduate studies. Hayat Muhammad Khan from UN-WOMEN and alumni of AusAid scholarship, talked about Australian universities and the process of application of AusAid. “Be the ambassador of Pakistan when you go to any country and do not rely on these presentations only, explore and work hard to achieve it” Mr Khan said. Saifuddin Saif, Country Manager for the University of Bristol, also addressed the youth and motivated them towards their dream. He asked everyone to think what their dream is and then follow that dream as he mentioned that many of us have dreams but we never plan to achieve them. Alumni from various scholarships of United Kingdom, Australia, United States, Germany, United States, Canada, Sweden and China participated in the event. Ambreen Baig from Fulbright Scholarship said: “The youth of Chitral are taking keen interest in international scholarships. We are guiding them on how to apply and how to appear in interviews if they get selected.” CYF Board of Advisory which comprises of Experts from different organizations also visited the expo and they appreciated the participation of youth from Chitral in this expo. Mr. Sherzad Ali Khan AKDN Coordinator said that the youth of Chitral have very less opportunities and organizing these kinds of events will provide them a platform from where they can equip themselves. He also insisted youth to struggle and prove themselves in their field of interest. According to data provided by government and other organizations, Chitral is comparatively at higher position with regard to literacy rate, as compared to the rest of KPK. In the whole scenario of literacy promotion and spreading education drive none of us has ever thought of the simple notion that what value we are adding to our community through our education, so we formed this Chitral Youth Forum though which we are working on various programs. Asif Ali Taj, President CYF said. He added that majority of youth are eager to achieve more and go abroad for higher education and CYF Team realized that the first and most important step for this is to connect them to international scholarship holders.]]>