US Congress passes bill to expand number of scholarships to Pakistani women

The US Congress has passed a bill named after Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai, to expand the number of scholarships to Pakistani women. The congressional website stated the expansion is in a merit and need based program.

Passed by the House of Representatives in March 2020, the ‘Malala Yousafzai Scholarship Act’ was adopted in the US Senate by a voice vote on January 1, 2021. The Act has now been sent to the White House for formalization by the President, Donald Trump.

Under this bill, the US Agency for International Development (USAID) is required to award at least 50 per cent of scholarships under a Pakistan-based higher education scholarship program to Pakistani women, from 2020 to 2022.

A wide range of academic disciplines will be catered in accordance with existing eligibility criteria. In order to improve and expand access to education programs in Pakistan, the USAID is also required to consult with and leverage investments by the Pakistani private sector and Pakistani diaspora in the United States.

The agency is also supposed to brief the Congress annually on the number of scholarships awarded under the program, including breakdowns by gender, discipline, and degree type. The briefing will also include the percentage of recipients who were involuntarily pushed out of the program due to failure to meet requirements. The percentage of recipients who dropped out of school, including due to retaliation for seeking education will also be calculated.

Since 2010, the USAID has awarded more than 6,000 scholarships for young women to receive higher education in Pakistan.