Khushhali Bank Limited (KBL) in association with United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has extended the outreach of its scholarship program by awarding 42 more scholarships to the students of University of Peshawar, City University, Peshawar and Institute of Management Sciences, Peshawar. This increases the total number of scholarships awarded to students to attend prestigious universities across the country under the KBL – USAID Scholarship program to 332.

Ghalib Nishtar, President, Khushhali Bank Limited, and Bob Wilson, USAID/Pakistan Mission Director, awarded the scholarships in a ceremony today. These scholarships are awarded to the capable and deserving students who not only belong to the marginalized areas of Pakistan, but also qualify for a degree program as per the admission criteria of the University. The scholarships include tuition and examination fees, along with course related material/books, boarding & lodging expenses. The students who receive these scholarships may also be offered special internship opportunities during the course of their education.

KBL – USAID Scholarship Program was launched in 2005 to enable students to acquire quality education in highly reputed universities in Pakistan, like IBA (Karachi and Sukkur), LUMS (Lahore), SZABIST (Karachi) and IMS Hayatabad (Peshawar), BUITEMS (Quetta) and University of Peshawar. University of Peshawar has over the years been awarded 74 scholarships and with the additional 14 scholarships being awarded the total number of their students availing scholarships under USAID - Khushhali Bank’s Scholarship Program will go up to 88. Meanwhile the City University with 67 previously given scholarships and an additional 3 has been awarded a total of 70 scholarships. The total scholarships awarded to Institute of Management Sciences, Peshawar have increased to 84, with 25 newly given scholarships and 59 previously awarded scholarships.

USAID’s support to Khushhali Bank is a part of the support that U.S. Government is providing to Pakistan to improve economic growth, education, health, governance and reconstruction of earthquake affected areas. Elaborating on the initiative, Bob Wilson, USAID/Pakistan Mission Director said “USAID and Khushhali bank have been working together to strengthen the economies in remote areas of Pakistan through microfinance, training, and scholarships for five years. The partnership has benefited over 200,000 Pakistanis.”

Ghalib Nishtar, President, Khushhali Bank, while extending his appreciation to USAID and acknowledging the importance of education said “We are grateful to USAID for helping us further our objective of promoting education in the remote areas of Pakistan and fuelling the engine of this long term initiative. In today’s fast paced world of Information, it is impossible for anyone to enter and eventually survive in the work environment without quality professional education. Education is the cornerstone of a prosperous nation and an economically developed country. With the help of this program we seek to empower students from under developed areas, via opportunities that specifically cater towards their intellectual and professional development”.