ICCR to increase number of scholarships to Afghan students

New Delhi, July 19 (PTI) To help students from Afghanistan
receive quality education in India, the Indian Council of
Cultural Relation (ICCR) has decided to increase the number of
special scholarships for them from 500 to 700 from next year.

"Afghanistan is one of the focused countries for us. We
will increase the number of scholarship to help people from
that country come here and get quality education," ICCR
Chairman Karan Singh told PTI here.

He said the council gives scholarships to about 1,500
international students, from over 70 countries, who study
various programs and disciplines in different universities and
educational institutions in India.

ICCR Scholarships are also given for research work and
non-formal courses on areas like religion, classical music,
dance and crafts.

The council also gives 100 scholarships under the
Bangladesh Scholarship Scheme. It has launched special
scholarships for the students of Afghanistan recently.

The focus of ICCR is to give more scholarships to
students of the neighbouring country, Singh said.

ICCR's decision assumes significance in view of India
taking special interest in providing all help for
reconstruction of Afghanistan after the US-led invasion.

The HRD Ministry has also asked the National Council for
Education Research and Training (NCERT) to provide training to
about 120 school teachers from the war-ravaged country on
student-friendly methods of teaching.

NCERT will prepare a specific curriculum for the Afghan
teachers who will be coming to India this year. They will be
here for two years and will be imparted the modern and
students-friendly methods of teaching.

This is for the first time that such a huge number of
teachers from a foreign country will come here for training, a
senior HRD Ministry official said.

The teachers from Afghanistan are coming as a follow-up
to the Memorandum of Understanding signed between both the
countries on collaboration on several areas, including
education.

India has provided USD 750 million in humanitarian and
economic aid, making itself the largest regional provider of
aid for Afghanistan. PTI BKM
am
NNNN