Pakistani businessman Ali Khan Tareen, the son of former PTI leader and business tycoon Jahangir Khan Tareen, has launched a scholarship for graduate students from South Punjab to study at the University of Oxford, one of the world’s most prestigious universities. The scholarship will be awarded through the Oxford Pakistan Programme and will be established as a five-year program. The aim of the scholarship is to support deserving Pakistani scholars from South Punjab and increase their representation at the University of Oxford. Funds for the scholarship will be donated annually and disbursed on a rolling basis.
Ali Khan Tareen hopes to encourage bright young leaders from impoverished areas like South Punjab to bring positive change to their region through higher education. He partnered with the Oxford Pakistan Programme, a non-profit organization dedicated to increasing the representation of Pakistani students at Oxford, to establish the Tareen Oxford Scholarship. The scholarship is available for all graduate courses offered at Kellogg College, Oxford, which is where Ali himself studied.
Ali believes that students from underserved areas need more opportunities to discover themselves and the world around them. He has witnessed firsthand the potential that bright and talented kids from even the most impoverished areas in South Punjab demonstrate when given the right opportunities. The scholarship will not only help deserving students achieve big things but will also best prepare them to do better and give back to their region. Ali hopes that the scholarship will help put the people and region of South Punjab on the map and bring attention to its untapped potential.
The scholarship will require applicants to mention how they plan on giving back to the South Punjab region. Ali hopes that the responses will demonstrate passion and understanding of the region’s weaknesses and strengths and provide tangible ideas for doing more and doing better in South Punjab.
Ali has already accomplished a diverse set of achievements, including starting a cricket team for South Punjab and setting up this scholarship for students from the region. He believes in creating platforms to accommodate and highlight the skill and talent that already exists in South Punjab, whether in the form of education, business, or sports. Ali thinks that investing in and building on existing infrastructure and capacities is essential for being a successful and independent nation.
As a proud feminist and father of girls, Ali hopes to create more opportunities for women in the future. He has not yet determined what he will do next but knows that his ideas and opportunities will stem from things he feels passionately about, such as education equality and sports development.
It is inspiring to see someone like Ali Khan Tareen make tangible efforts to help deserving students from South Punjab. The Tareen Oxford Scholarship will provide life-changing opportunities for students to achieve their dreams and give back to their communities. The scholarship highlights the untapped potential of South Punjab and the importance of investing in under-served regions to create a successful and independent nation.
