PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government`s failure to pay Rs356 million, spent on the students enrolled at the Ghulam Ishaq Khan (GIK) Institute of Engineering Sciences and Technology under a provincial government scholarship programme, has forced Swabi`s educational institution into considering halting new registrations under the programme.

A senior staff member of the GIK Institute wondered how the faculty members and other staff could be paid if the institute didn`t collect fees from students.`We`re a private entity and not a public one, so we`re financially dependent on student fees to manage our expenses,` he told Dawn.

The employee said as the government had been denying payment for the last six years, the institute could opt for not marking exam papers of such students or withholding their results.

He said if the government didn`t release dues, the institute could obtain stamp paper undertakings from students that they would pay the fee if the government refused to do so.

The staff member said those students could be stopped from attending the convocation scheduled for next month.

He said notices had also been issued to students enrolled under the government scholarship programme, prompting some of them to formally seek the intervention of the provincial ombudsman.The provincial government had launched the scholarship programme at the GIK Institute in 2008 to `provide the deserving students with an opportunity to learn at the prestigious institute.

A memorandum of understanding in this respect was signed between the institute and higher education department on Sept 28, 2008, regarding the award of scholarships to students with KP`s domiciles for learning at the institute.

The provincial government had committed to awarding 20 scholarships (for all four years of the undergraduate degree cycle).

The MoU signing was followed by the inking of another MoU on May 30, 2017. Both were `permanent` in nature for not carrying any expiry date, according to the officials.

Under the scheme mentioned in MoUs, the candidates submit their applications with a committee having members fromthe higher education department and GIK Institute.

The joint committee conducts the interview and recommends the candidates for the scholarships in accordance with the criteria mentioned in MoUs.

The scholarship programme progressed smoothly until 2019 as the provincial released funds on time. However, it was disturbed later due to the government`s failure to release fees of the students enrolled under the programme.

The GIK Institute repeatedly requested authorities to release the funds, but in vain, creating problems for the institute and spreading uncertainty among students.

`As funds have been constantly denied, we`re really upset. I will request the government to release money to the institute to prevent us from any trouble,` a student told Dawn.

He said currently, 80 students were getting education at thecivil, electrical, data sciences, cybersecurity, chemical, computer science and artificial intelligence departments at the government`s expense.

An official of the higher education department told Dawn that it was a very good initiative as most competent students in the province got higher education through the scholarship programme.

He said the department was preparing a `case` on the matter for the finance department to release funds after approval by the chief minister.

The official, however, claimed that the GIK Institute hadn`t `properly pursued` the matter since the launch of the scholarship programme.

`The scholarship programme is still there through just an MoU with no legal backing.

Such scholarships should have been approved by the cabinet but it has so far not happened, he said.