Pakistan’s Sindh government in collaboration with The Oxford Pakistan Programme (OPP), has announced it will provide six scholarships for students pursuing graduate studies in STEM at Lady Margaret Hall.
The merit-based scholarships will cover tuition and living expenses, with preference given to PhD students. Last year, OPP awarded scholarships to three students: two from Sindh and one from Balochistan.
Three will be awarded to men in honor of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and three to women in honor of Benazir Bhutto. Benazir Bhutto (LMH, BA PPE 1973) was Pakistan’s first female Prime Minister and her father, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto (Christ Church, BA Law & LLM 1950), also served as Prime Minister and founded the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP).
The scholarship program was announced by Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah and Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, son of Benazir Bhutto and current Chairman of the PPP, during a lunch hosted by LMH Principal, Professor Stephen Blyth. At the event, they were briefed on OPP’s initiatives to expand educational access for Pakistani students from disadvantaged backgrounds.
The event was attended by prominent figures, including Dr. Mohammad Faisal, Pakistan’s High Commissioner to the UK; Imran Zarkoon Khan, Secretary of Finance for Balochistan; Sanam Bhutto; historian Victoria Schofield; and senior officials from Sindh and Balochistan.
Speaking at the Benazir Bhutto Memorial Lecture at the Oxford Union, Bhutto-Zardari reflected on his mother’s legacy, emphasized the significance of women’s participation in higher education, and reaffirmed his belief that “democracy is the best revenge”.
Beyond the scholarships at Oxford, the Sindh government has approved 3,157 additional scholarships for the 2023-2024 academic year under the Sindh Education Endowment Fund. These scholarships are intended to support students pursuing higher education, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Commenting on this broader initiative, Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah stated: “These scholarships will enable students from Sindh to study at one of the world’s finest institutions. Not only will they benefit from this opportunity, but Sindh as a whole will gain as these scholars return with knowledge and expertise to uplift their communities.”
In an Instagram post, OPP stated: “The establishment of the scholarships was supported by Israr Khan, President of the Oxford Union,” who is a Pakistani scholar from Balochistan.
The OPP was founded and is led by a team of Oxford professors and alumni. Since its launch, it has provided over £600,000 in financial aid, supporting 48 Pakistani graduate students at Oxford. Funded by donors like the Malala Fund, the British Council, and the Pakistan High Commission, OPP follows a spend-down model, pooling small donations for high-impact initiatives.
The program emphasises the limited representation of Pakistani students at Oxford, noting that in 2021, only about 12 undergraduates and 45 graduate students from Pakistan were enrolled—despite the country’s population exceeding 220 million, with over 60% under the age of 30. Furthermore, British Pakistanis remain the most underrepresented BAME group at the graduate level within the university.
The announcement follows the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the UK and Pakistan, which highlighted the importance of education and empowerment.
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