LAHORE: (Saturday, May 05, 2012): Punjab University Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Mujahid Kamran has announced Rs 20 million for financial assistance of university students under Student Advancement Endowment Fund. He was addressing a workshop on Student Advancement Endowment Fund & Student Start-Up Business Centre (SSBC) organized by PU Faculty of Education, Higher Education Commission and Promotion of Education in Pakistan (PEP) INC, New York here on Saturday.

Vice Chancellor Beaconhouse National University Mr Sartaz Aziz, Vice Chancellor Islamia University Bahawalpur Prof Dr Muhammad Mukhtar, Vice Chancellor Lahore College for Women University Prof Dr Sabeha Mansoor, Vice Chancellor University of Gujrat Prof Dr Nizam-uddin, Forman Christian College Rector Prof Dr Peter H Armacost, Dean PU Faculty of Education Prof Dr Hafiz Muhammad Iqbal, PEP Foundation President Dr Khalid Iqbal, Dur-e-Shehwar from Higher Education Commission, Afaque Ahmed from Education Enrichment Foundation Karachi, ITC-ILO consultant Sadaf Abid and many others from various top public and private sector institutions participated in the workshop.

Dr Kamran said that this was an innovative experience and the workshop would bring something new for students. He said that PU was already financing students with an amount of Rs 70 million and the amount of 20 million would be allocated from the earning of its own investment of 4 billion rupees. He said that the administration was working on the revival of Punjab University’s alumni association which would also help support the programme. Dr Khalid Iqbal, while giving presentation on establishment of Student Advancement Endowment Fund, said the purpose of Student Advancement Fund Endowment (SAFE) was to make higher education accessible to needy students, enhance their learning experience and make the universities more competitive. He said that there were two different ways to set up the fund. He said that one approach was to establish a non-profit organization for the sole purpose of supporting SAEF which would be operated according to federal and provincial rules while it could also be established under the Umbrella of university or college and would be operated under university/college Act. He said that PEP Foundation had already established SAFE at Punjab University, GCU Lahore, UET Lahore, GCU Faisalabad and BNU Lahore. He said that each beneficiary might sign an honorary agreement to return voluntarily an amount twice equivalent (received) to SAFE within 10 years of gainful employment, which would provide funds for future scholarship programmes. He thanked HEC Executive Director Sohail Naqvi for providing all-out support for establishing SAFE as HEC would award at least 1 million rupees to the university. He said that SSBC would be established with the goal of promoting talented students’ entrepreneurship and enhancing their practical learning experience at the university. He said that it would also promote student start-up business and offer support both in shape of knowledge and finance to students to establish their own start-up businesses. Former Foreign and Finance Minister and BNU VC Mr Sartaj Aziz gave a detailed briefing on BNU Student Fund and said that it was a part of their overall scholarship programme. He said that interest-free loans and partial scholarship with loan were also being provided under the scheme. Rector FCC Dr Peter Armacost gave presentation on Student Endowment Fund, Remarks and Reflections. VC LCWU spoke on Fundraising Done Right and said that financial pressure was growing on universities. She said that it was very difficult for women to return educational loans as they got married after education. Afaque Ahmed gave presentation on Student Entrepreneurship via Mentor Programs while Sadaf Abid gave presentation on their product Know about Business (KAB): Training Students in Entrepreneurship. In his concluding remarks, Prof Dr Hafiz Iqbal said that because of initiatives taken by HEC, higher education enrollment had increased 1588 percent. He lauded the efforts being made for the establishment of SAFE at educational institutions. Later, a 45-minute Discussion forum was also held to exchange ideas.