The Sindh government on Monday approved university scholarships for 2,662 students from across the province under the Sindh Education Endowment Fund (SEEF) for the academic year 2024–25. It also approved the renewal of scholarships for 5,853 students already pursuing higher education at universities.
Officials said the decisions were taken during a meeting of the SEEF Board of Trustees, chaired by Sindh Education Minister Syed Sardar Ali Shah. The meeting was attended by Secretary Colleges Nadeemur Rehman Memon, Secretary Universities and Boards Abbas Baloch, Secretary School Education Zahid Abbasi, SEEF Secretary Iqbal Jamani, and other board members.
During a briefing, the board was informed that the SEEF was currently providing scholarships to students from Sindh enrolled in 92 public and private universities across Pakistan. It was further shared that, as of June 2026, the fund’s total capital had reached Rs12.617 billion. The Sindh government was also contributing an additional Rs2 billion annually to expand higher education opportunities for deserving students.
The meeting was informed that since its establishment in 2002, the SEEF had supported 42,169 students in completing higher education at universities across the country. Education Minister Syed Sardar Ali Shah said SEEF had become an effective instrument for transforming the aspirations of talented, hardworking, and underprivileged youth into reality.
He emphasised that financial hardship should never become a barrier to education and reaffirmed the Sindh government’s commitment to ensuring equal opportunities for every deserving student to progress according to their abilities.
The minister noted that, in line with emerging global and national trends, scholarship opportunities should be expanded to include disciplines expected to be in greater demand in the future. Such an approach, he said, would not only help Sindh’s youth acquire quality education but also enhance their prospects for employment and professional growth.
Shah directed that the fund’s investment framework be comprehensively reviewed and strengthened to increase returns, enabling a larger number of students to benefit from scholarships. He also instructed the authorities to modernise and fully digitise the SEEF’s operations and conduct a third-party audit to further enhance transparency, accountability, and governance.
The board decided that the SEEF Executive Committee would prepare recommendations for increasing the number of scholarships available at universities. These recommendations would include the addition of more universities, an assessment of the effective utilisation of scholarships by institutions, proposals for covering new academic disciplines, and measures to further expand the scholarship programme.
Expressing concern over the absence of university vice chancellors, who served as board members, from the meeting, the education minister stressed the importance of their active participation in future Board sessions. He said their engagement was essential for addressing students’ concerns, educational needs, and institutional challenges, while also helping to make the scholarship system more responsive and effective.
