Oxford University has recently started huge new teaching and public diplomacy effort. The Oxford-Pakistan Program strives to expand and promote Pakistan-related activities at Oxford. The OPP will include various scholarships for graduate students, special lectures on Pakistan, visiting fellowships specifically for Pakistani faculty members, and the addition of a second Rhodes Scholarship for Pakistan, thanks to Oxford professor Adeel Malik, Dr. Talha J. Pirzada, lecturer in material sciences, and Haroon Zaman, Oxford University graduate and former president of the Oxford Pakistan Society.
At the OPP launch on September 31st at the Pakistan High Commission in London, several additional scholarships were revealed. Malala Yousafzai, a Nobel Laureate, and Oxford graduate announced the launch of a new scholarship that will allow one Pakistani girl from a low-income family to study at Oxford each year. Mr. Ahmed Owais Pirzada also announced the establishment of the Jamal Scholarship in honor of Dr. Ahmed Bilal Shah, a prominent Pakistani physician in Zimbabwe. Dr. Tariq Zaman, an orthopedic surgeon, and Imperial College honorary senior lecturer have created an annual graduation scholarship for Pakistani and British Pakistani students.
The program has already gained widespread support from well-known individuals and organizations across the world. The British High Commission in Islamabad and the High Commission for Pakistan in London, as well as several notable members of the Oxford community, have expressed their support for the initiative. The OPP has received almost £500,000 in pledges for its first phase, which will last for the next five years. This funding mostly came from Pakistani businesspeople and prominent members of the Pakistani diaspora in the United Kingdom.
The OPP has been hailed by a number of significant figures in British and Pakistani politics for increasing the intellectual ties between the two countries. The OPP follows a similar program launched earlier this year by Jesus College to assist year 12 British Bangladeshi and Pakistani students with their admission process. The Jesus College program and the OPP show a rising concern for Pakistani participation at the university, as well as a greater attempt to bring the two nations together via education.
The Oxford-Pakistan Programme is still being finalized by the university, but it is expected to go online in the next months, with the scholarships becoming active in October 2022.