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In the media Daily Times, Pakistan - 14th September 2003

LAHORE: The BeaconHouse National University (BNU) has given admission to 14 students from South Asia Foundation for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) countries on scholarship offered to them by the South Asia Foundation (SAF).

"This is for the first time that an educational institution in Pakistan has been nominated by SAF, with students also willing to join an institution like the BNU, " Mrs Nasreen Kasuri told Daily Times at the opening of the BNU undergraduate programmes on Saturday. The BNU consultant and secretary to the board of directors Mrs Naveed Shahzad was also present on the occasion.

Mrs Kasuri said the students admitted to the BNU included two from Bhutan, two from Nepal and two from Afghanistan. "SAF will bear expenses for their tuition fee, boarding and lodging," she said, adding, "It is an honour for Pakistan and for us too to play host to these students."

She said the BNU would particularly focus on fine arts, literature, theatre and journalism. It would expand its disciplines as well as infrastructure gradually, she added.
The university, she continued, would introduce unique topics, research trends and programmes.

  

Mrs Kasuri said the most remarkable thing was the "collection of jewels" picked up from across the world in the form of faculty. She said the BNU had hired teachers on merit from countries like the United Kingdom, Scotland, Germany and Sweden. The teaching staff, she added, felt secure on campus, where they would work like a family.

Regarding scholarships, she said every university had to provide 10 percent  scholarships to deserving students. However, she added, the BNU was offering 20 percent scholarships.

"We have around 6,000 books online and all the departments are computerised," she said.

Mrs Kasuri said the university would focus on areas that needed to improve. "Business management, economics and information technology are pretty good," she said, adding: "Now there is a need to identify weak areas where there is talent but that needs to be channeled." She said the BNU was a project of the BNU Foundation, which is a non-profit organisation.

Staff Report, Sunday Edition (A2).