Published: 11:24 PM, 16 September 2026
Murky Sides of Higher Studies in Pakistan Must Be Thoroughly Scrutinized Before Going There
Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar visited Dhaka in August 2025 to advance the stalled relationship between Bangladesh and Pakistan. During the visit, he announced an educational cooperation initiative, or “Knowledge Corridor”, to strengthen higher education, research and people-to-people ties between the two countries. The initiative is administered by Pakistan’s Higher Education Commission (HEC).
Under the initiative, “fully funded” scholarships were announced for Bangladeshi students. However, after completing the application, examination and selection process, students selected for master’s programs have received offer letters that do not reflect that promise. Allegations have emerged that the offers cover only tuition fees and accommodation, excluding meals, monthly allowances, transport, airfare and other benefits. This has caused deep disappointment among the selected students, many of whom have described the situation as deception. Diplomats, too, have characterized it as Pakistan deceiving the students.
Dar’s visit was the first by a Pakistani foreign minister to Dhaka in nearly 13 years. Pakistan’s then foreign minister, Hina Rabbani Khar, had previously visited Dhaka in 2012.
The Knowledge Corridor announcement promised a total of 500 fully funded scholarships for Bangladeshi students over the following five years. These were to cover Bachelor of Science programs lasting four to five years, two-year master’s programs and four-year PhD programs.
Scholarship announcements issued by the Pakistan High Commission in Dhaka and Pakistan’s Higher Education Commission, as well as calls for applications at several Pakistan-organized education fairs in Dhaka, stated that selected Bangladeshi students would receive fully funded scholarships under the Knowledge Corridor. The benefits were to include full tuition fees, a monthly maintenance allowance, monthly hostel charges, a one-off settlement allowance and one return air ticket.
Under the initiative, approximately 74 students from the first cohort arrived in Pakistan in stages in February and began studying at leading universities. The second phase of the Pakistan Education Expo opened in Dhaka in May, with further scholarships announced and applications continuing.
However, after completing all stages of the scholarship process under the second phase, students selected for master’s programs were informed, as they prepared to enroll, that they would be offered only tuition and dormitory fee waivers. This meant there would be no comprehensive financial support for meals, monthly allowances, transport or other essential expenses.
The students were left disappointed. Despite being selected, many are unwilling to proceed with their studies after learning that they will not receive full funding. They describe the situation as deception.
One student, speaking on condition of anonymity, told news outlets:
“On behalf of Bangladeshi applicants for Pakistan’s fully funded master’s scholarships, I would like to bring an important issue to your attention. This is a form of deception: saying one thing and doing another. It is deceiving hundreds of students and jeopardizing their futures.
“We applied for this scholarship from Bangladesh and spent a considerable amount of time going through the application process, examinations and various stages of selection. From the outset, notices and official posts published by the relevant authorities described it as a fully funded scholarship.
“But at the final stage, master’s students were informed that they would not receive fully funded scholarships. Instead, we were offered only tuition and dormitory fee waivers. In other words, there would be no comprehensive financial support for meals, monthly allowances, transport or other essential expenses.
“We are extremely disappointed and concerned. If full scholarships were never available at the master’s level, this should have been clearly stated at the beginning of the application process. Receiving a different offer at the final stage, after spending so much time on examinations and selection procedures, is deeply disappointing for students.”
Ashraful Islam Rummon, another student, alleged irregularities after receiving an offer letter for the Pakistani government’s Allama Iqbal Scholarship. He told journalists:
“According to the official circular and advertisements for Pakistan’s Knowledge Corridor, this scholarship was supposed to be fully funded. It was to include 100 per cent of tuition fees, accommodation, airfare, a monthly stipend and a settlement allowance to cover initial living expenses.
“However, the offer letter I recently received for a master’s program at PAF-IAST in Haripur significantly reduced those benefits. The email sent to me stated that the scholarship would cover only a 100 per cent tuition fee waiver and accommodation. Living expenses, transport, visa fees, medical insurance and all other incidental costs were explicitly excluded.
“I do not think this is an isolated case. It appears that almost all master’s applicants under this scheme have received offer letters providing only these partial benefits instead of the fully funded scholarships promised.”
Another student, Abu Musa, said:
“I am facing two major problems with the offer letter for the ‘fully funded’ master’s scholarship I received from Pakistan.
“First, there is confusion over funding. My offer states that 100 per cent of tuition fees and accommodation costs will be covered. However, it does not include any monthly living stipend, food allowance, health insurance or airfare. It would be completely impossible to support myself there without a stipend, which makes the claim of ‘full funding’ highly misleading.
“Second, my university was changed without my consent. I applied to a particular university and program of my choice, but they assigned me to an entirely different university that I had not selected. This was a unilateral decision made without consulting me.”
Another student, also speaking anonymously, said:
“I applied and sat the examination too. Although their circular advertised a fully funded scholarship, they are now offering us tuition fee waivers. No fully funded scholarship anywhere in the world can consist solely of a tuition fee waiver. They should either accept us with full funding or reject our applications. No other arrangement is acceptable.
“They also created a great deal of confusion over the master’s selection results. The results were supposed to be announced in the first week of August, but these emails did not arrive until the third week.
“Most importantly, instead of allocating places at good universities, they are offering students places at third-tier universities. My question is: if they were not going to provide full funding, why did they not clearly state this in the circular? Students’ time and effort have been wasted unnecessarily, and many are disappointed with the outcome.”
An email seeking clarification was sent to the relevant authorities at Pakistan’s Higher Education Commission on 1 September. No response had been received by the time this report was written on 14 September.
When the Pakistan High Commission in Dhaka was contacted on 1 September, Counsellor Shabid Ullah Wazir told reporters: “We are trying to obtain information from Pakistan’s Higher Education Commission, as this falls under its jurisdiction.”
Asked again on 8 September, Wazir said: “I have been trying to contact the relevant officials, but I have not received any information.”
The relevant director general at Bangladesh’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs also did not respond to a request for comment. Asked about the matter, Foreign Secretary (Bilateral) Nazrul Islam told journalists that they were not aware of it.
Former ambassador Munshi Faiz told mass media: “If Pakistan has done this under the Knowledge Corridor initiative, it amounts to deception. There was no need to make such false statements to students. This would not have happened with another country.”
Former ambassador Mahfuzur Rahman said: “This is a relatively minor issue. Surely a solution can be found. The matter deserves consideration on both practical and humanitarian grounds.”
Retired major general and former ambassador Shahidul Haque told reporters: “The Ministry of Foreign Affairs should look into this. There may be a gap somewhere. Since this concerns students, it must be given due importance and resolved.”
The specific question here is why Bangladeshi students should go to study in Pakistan considering the security or political situation and education quality in that country. What is the impression across the world about Pakistani higher education and how their students are faring in securing employment opportunities abroad? Another unanswered question is how many world business leaders have Pakistani institutions produced so far? Bangladeshi students must contemplate seriously about the pros and cons of going to Pakistan for higher studies. There is no point in inviting trouble four our students after they arrive in Pakistan.
Rafiqul Islam Pintu writes on
academic affairs, governance
issues and administrative
dimensions.
