Thanx man. In our case we totally shut US and UK options due to expenses. As none of us believed that with bad grades we could achieve any scholarship. So we opted for Sweden/Italy/Germany.
However, since my O-Level I was aware of that Germany offers good education very economically. In fact I tried also to get college admission (higher secondary) in Germany back in 2003. But yes clearly it is awareness. As when I finished my college in Pak (2004), I only knew UET, and from a word of mouth I came to know about NUST, GIK and IST.
There are certain practical steps if we follow the examples taken by China and India:
1. Securing international scholarships cannot be left to the efforts of, and merits of , individual students alone. Both China and India know this, and have taken steps to address the issue.
2. The objective of securing the maximum number of PhD scholarships is targeted at least a year in advance by voluntary or state owned counseling and coaching organizations.
3. India follows both a voluntary or paid counseling/ coaching program. The voluntary counseling program is far more successful.
The voluntary counseling programs are managed by serving and retired academics around universities, both off and on campus. Students who show promise early in school and college are identified, and selected for coaching at least one to one and half years in advance at their Masters Level, and are guided by mentors into meeting the metrics for that specific scholarship. Each University prides itself on how many international PhD scholarships it can secure. Serving professors cannot devote enough attention to this effort, which is why retired professors play a major role. Retired academics working closely with their serving colleagues ensure that the conditions are met, which primarily means that thesis or practicums are genuine and not a "cut and paste" .
90% of the candidates attempting a PhD or completing their Masters are doing so merely as a formality to meet the conditions to secure a University lectureship job, and are least interested in fundamental research. There is extreme nepotism and manipulation here which will not go down well for international scholarships Which is why the counseling academia sifts the genuine candidates who are interested in research from the lectureship aspirants.
The paid counseling agencies/ organizations mainly help with the paper work and have a panel of consultants ( retired academics) to guide aspirants. These counseling agencies are obviously accessed by the second grade aspirants from universities who have not been successful with the voluntary counseling schemes.
Foreign trained PhD scientists also need a motivation to return home to work on something better than a mere lectureship. India has a state funded Council for Scientific and Industrial Research aa well as private sector funded organizations such as the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research to absorb some of the talent.
4. China is far more organized due to it's state owned educational system. Like India, it has an intensive counseling program targeting international scholarships. The difference with India is, that students are far more closely monitored and mentored. The counseling programs are state funded with full time academics managing the students with specific targets on how many scholarships they can secure. Like India, China has a state funded Academy of Sciences but there are also numerous independent fundamental research institutes to absorb and employ the scientific talent returning home.
5. Ultimately it comes down to a selfless passion for a patriotic cause.
A retired Indian professor mentoring a PhD candidate gains very little or usually nothing financially. Any feelings of nepotism such as "why not my children first" are in the background. The patriotic duty of developing a pool of scientific talent is uppermost. Only very few academics have this mindset, but there are a sufficient number to make a difference.
In China the patriotic duty of academia is also ensured by a "stick". Professors
must meet or exceed their targets in grooming enough Master's students for international scholarships or else they loose credibility and come up for criticism. In China the scholarships are not viewed as a passport for individuals to leave China and settle abroad. The scholarships are meant to train a batches of scientific talent that will return to their nation with enhanced knowledge.
Which is why even though India almost matches China in international scholarships it gains very little because 90% of the PhD students remain outside India acquiring residency, jobs, and citizenship in those countries.
6. Pakistan should follow both the Chinese state funded counseling and Indian voluntary counseling model. Ultimately it comes down to selflessness and passion for the nation. Securing international scholarships is difficult on individual brilliance alone. Leaving talented Pakistan students to fend for themselves against such organized competition is not an option.
) @Baibars_1260 @peagle @khansaheeb
but mainly because nobody knew what is the issue. Our internal adviser said on the first day that he cannot guide us. Our external adviser said he couldn't find the error. So we had to fudged the data.
