The Higher Education Commission (HEC) of Pakistan welcomed 350 Afghan undergraduate scholars to Peshawar as part of the Allama Muhammad Iqbal Scholarship Program, a major educational initiative aiming to strengthen academic cooperation between Afghanistan and Pakistan.
The newly arrived undergraduate Afghan students will first undertake a specially designed preparatory course, which will prepare them academically for their subsequent admission into various Pakistani universities beginning with the upcoming fall semester. Additionally, as the scholarship initiative continues to expand, Pakistan will host another group of Afghan students, including 50 PhD candidates and 100 Master’s-level students scheduled to begin their studies in September 2025.
These scholarships are part of a large-scale educational outreach by the Government of Pakistan, awarding a total of 4,500 scholarships to deserving Afghan students under the Allama Muhammad Iqbal Scholarship Program. The program reflects Pakistan’s ongoing commitment to supporting educational advancement and human resource development in Afghanistan.
To warmly welcome the students, the Higher Education Commission organized a special reception at its Regional Centre in Peshawar. Incoming students were officially greeted by senior HEC staff members as well as representatives from prominent Pakistani educational institutions, including the National University of Technology (NUTECH), Islamabad, and the National University of Computer and Emerging Sciences (NUCES-FAST), Faisalabad.
The Allama Muhammad Iqbal Scholarship Program offers Afghan students significant opportunities to pursue their tertiary education across numerous disciplines at some of Pakistan’s most prestigious universities. This educational collaboration is intended to build long-term goodwill, promote academic and cultural exchanges, and empower Afghan youth to contribute to the development and prosperity of Afghanistan.
