The Oxford Pakistan Programme (OPP) has launched the Tareen Oxford Scholarship, which will give financial help to Pakistani students who are unable to finance graduate fees at the University of Oxford.
The scholarship is meant to help skilled South Punjab students who have been accepted into one of the relevant graduate programs offered at Kellogg College, University of Oxford.
The scholarship will be on a means-tested basis, with preference given to students who have the ability to make an important contribution to the development of South Punjab. It will pay for tuition and living expenses and is part of the OPP’s graduate scholarship program. Through this initiative, at least three graduate scholarships are offered each year to skilled Pakistani and British Pakistani students.
Ali Tareen, an alumnus of Kellogg College, Oxford, gave generously to the Tareen Oxford Scholarship. The scholarship is part of a five-year initiative in which funds are contributed and distributed on a rolling basis. The OPP, Kellogg College, and Central University, as well as the University’s part departments, are going to advertise the scholarship. Prospective graduate students from throughout the University will be able to access it.
South Punjab is one of Pakistan’s least developed regions, therefore most abroad scholarships are unavailable to students from this region. The Tareen Oxford Scholarship was one of the earliest scholarship programs designed exclusively for students from South Punjab. The scholarship will not only benefit the recipients, but it will also have a significant influence on the ambitions of other brilliant academics in the areas from which Tareen scholars will be chosen.
The scholarship will also help to create a more diverse and inclusive academic community at Oxford. To encourage exceptional students from South Punjab to apply to Oxford University and benefit from the Tareen Oxford Scholarship, the OPP will arrange a customized access program for students from South Punjab in collaboration with Ali Tareen. This program will have two initiatives:
- An access program for final-year students applying for graduate degrees, including an Access Conference for final-year South Punjab students applying for M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees overseas. The top 20 Access Conference registrants will get free individual guidance from an Oxford student or recent graduate.
- For F.Sc. toppers and first-year public sector university toppers, 100 students from South Punjab will be chosen who have either topped their F.Sc. examinations or received the best marks in their first year at university. These students will be mentored on how to make the most of their next three to four years, as well as career advice and one-on-one mentoring to help them aim to be the best minds in the world.
It is worth noting that only about 30 Pakistani students get graduate offers to study at Oxford each year, but do not have the financial resources to pursue the chance. Hundreds of other talented students also do not apply to Oxford for the same reason.
Pakistanis and British Pakistanis are the most underrepresented group at Oxford University’s graduate level. The OPP is the University of Oxford’s first project of its type, addressing the underrepresentation of Pakistani-origin students and offering support for Pakistan-related academic activities at the University. More information about the scholarships is available at the Oxford Pakistan Program.
