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Cuba Medical scholarship programme | HIV positive case in PU
650 students may miss MBBS course: Delay in Cuban nod
Islamabad, May 10, 2008: As many as 650 medical students have been waiting for
the last eight months to be sent to Cuba for a scholarship programme that was
offered by the Cuban government last year, it was learnt.
According to
details, 1,000 medical students were selected from across the country for this
scholarship last year. Out of which 350 were sent to Cuba. However, the
remaining students had been waiting for their departure.
The delay in
departure has raised concerns of students as they were waiting for quite a long
period and had not taken admission elsewhere.
"I still remember the day I
got the provisional award for this scholarship in July 2007 since then not only
me but hundreds of students have been waiting for their departure to Cuba for
the initiation of MBBS programme," an aggrieved student asking not to be named
told this scribe.
"If we were sent in time we would have completed one
semester the delay in departure is wasting our time," she added.
The
selected students had not taken admission elsewhere, as refusing this
scholarship would cost them a fine of Rs130,000. However, prolonged delay was
wasting their precious time.
An orientation session for the remaining
students was held on March 20, 2008 at Higher Education Commission (HEC) in
collaboration with the Cuban Embassy.
The purpose of the event was to
inform the students about different aspects of the scholarship programmes, the
education system in Cuba and matters related to living and managing in a foreign
environment. Similar orientation session had also been organised by the HEC at
Karachi and Lahore.
A source in the HEC seeking anonymity told this
scribe that the students sent to Cuba were facing various problems including a
scheme of studies different from international curriculum, financial hardships
(stipend promised by HEC was not given to them), and cultural diversity due to
which female students were facing severe problems.
Unaware of the
problems being faced by the students already there in Cuba, the remaining
students were anxiously waiting for their turn and were eager to get intimation
from the HEC. Yet, no intimation related to time of departure has been given to
the students.
HIV positive case detected in PU
Lahore: A two-day free medical camp, organised by the Islami
Jamiat Tulaba, at the Punjab University has shown startling results.
One
student was detected HIV positive, 96 Hepatitis-C positive and 43 carriers of
Hepatitis A & B. Up to 2,000 students got their blood scanned at the camps
established at statistics department and the Institute of Education and Research
for male students and at sociology department for female students.
At the
medical camps, the students learnt about preventive measures to control
Hepatitis A, B and C. Pamphlets and brochures about preventive measures to check
ailments were also distributed to students.
The camp, which concluded on
Friday, was organised by the IJT on self-help basis. IJT King Edward Medical
University and Allama Iqbal Medical College doctors and students managed the
medical camps.
PU students praised the IJT activists for organising the
camp. Dawn
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