Pakistani students on scholarships in China left stranded
PESHAWAR: At least 32 students of different universities of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have been left stranded in China.
The students have not been given the stipend promised to them for the last four months, since they left the country to study in the neighbouring country in 2019. In a video message, the students have complained that their studies were getting hampered because of non-provision of funds.
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The male and female students had gone, under the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Scholarship for China 2019, on fully-funded scholarships to Shandong Normal University, China. The Frontier Education Foundation (FEF) coordinates with the students for the said scholarships.
In an application to the KP secretary Higher Education Department, the students said they were facing the following issues:
- We came here in September 2019 and have not received scholarship yet
- Despite the scholarships’ being fully funded, each student had paid 1500 RMB in the first week of arrival on visa fees, dormitory security fee etc.
- We have not got any medical insurance, while treatment is very expensive.
- Every scholarship including Pakistani scholarship, like the HEC scholarships, PEEF scholarships pay 3500 RMB o PhD and 3000 RMB to MS students, while the FEF has decreased the stipend to 3000 and 2000 respectively
- The FEF is not following the signed MoU with Shandong Normal University.
