The Oxford & Cambridge Society, Karachi Educational Trust (OCSKET)

ABOUT OSCKET

The Oxford & Cambridge Society Karachi, Educational Trust (OCSKET) was formed by the Oxford & Cambridge Society Karachi with a view to promoting education through free scholarship. The Society has opened membership free of cost to all those living in Pakistan or abroad who have attended either Oxford or Cambridge University. Due to inactivity of the Society, the Trust is also performing the functions of the Society. The Alumni currently comprises circa 110 members.

In the past, the annual Oxbridge Blues Ball was organized to raise funds for granting scholarships to students on the basis of both merit and established financial need. The Trust interviews and recommends a number of students for universities in Pakistan and to Oxford & Cambridge Universities. Selected scholars are awarded scholarships by the Trustees to centers of high academic excellence.

The other objectives are:

a) To provide a social forum where alumni of the Oxford and Cambridge Universities could meet interact, and raise funds for the trust.

b) To maintain under all circumstances our ties with our Alma Mater particularly at the undergraduate level, by providing scholarships, part/scholarships to suitably qualified entrants to both universities.

c) To avoid implications of elitism by also funding scholarships at local universities for persons aspiring to a higher level of education.

The paramount consideration for award of scholarships is clearly established and demonstrated financial need. Currently 39 students at NED and 2 at Oxbridge are funded by the Trust.

The Annual Blues’ Ball has been the traditional OCSKET fundraiser event, being held at Acton House, Runnymede with the kind cooperation of the British Deputy High Commission. Unfortunately, this annual event has not been held for the past several years due to Covid-19 as well as the inactivity of the society.

The OCSKET is currently certified by FBR as a NPO and the accounts are audited annually.

OCSKET has had a long association with Noon Foundation in England, in financing one scholarship a year for most years over the last 15 years whereas in comparison neither Lahore nor Islamabad alumni financed a single scholar. Students proceeding to Oxford or Cambridge are subsidized, in collaboration with the Noon, Cambridge Commonwealth Trust, and associated trusts. OCSKET has funded 18 scholars to date at Oxford and Cambridge.

Apart from this, OCSKET also provide scholarships to students at local institutions namely NED and IBA. We have funded over 550 students to date.

# Academic Year No. of Students Total Amount (Rs.)
1 2012 28 700,000
2 2013 24 600,000
3 2014 31 775,000
4 2015 44 132,000
5 2016 55 1,650,000
6 2017 73 2,200,000
7 2018 59 1,770,000
8 2019 45 1,350,000
9 2020 32 960,000
10 2021 32 960,000
11 2022 50 1,500,000
12 2023 78 2,310,000
Total 551 16,095,000

OCSKET believes high level of education is a necessary condition for economic growth and no country can make significant economic progress if majority of its citizens are illiterate. Without education and the right type of education, we cannot overcome extremism and poverty prevailing in Pakistani society. If we are to make real, speedy and substantial progress, we must earnestly tackle this issue with regard to the modern conditions and vast developments that have taken place all over the world.

Our Trustees


Mr. Mohamed Rajpar
Chairman
Mr. Bilal Ahmed Khan Trustee
Mr. Naveed Javeri
Trustee
Ms. Mariya Mazari
Trustee
Mr. Zahid Majeed
Trustee
Ms. Masuma Hasan
Trustee

Partners/Institutions

NED University Karachi

The NED University of Engineering and Technology is the oldest institution in Pakistan for teaching and training Graduate Engineers. It was started in 1922 as an Engineering College to provide Civil Engineers for what at that time was the Sindh Division of the Bombay presidency in India. That college now is the city campus of this university and is one of the heritage structures of Karachi; it now accommodates the Architecture Department of this University. When the NED College was first established, it was affiliated to the University of Bombay. After partition of the subcontinent in 1947, the land on which the college stood, having been taken over by the Provincial Education Department, the College itself was managed by its Board of Governors until it was nationalized in 1972. Thereafter, the College was shifted to the location now occupied by the Main Campus, developed with World Bank funding and eventually elevated to university status on 1st March 1977.

1. A. The Main Campus to which the college was shifted in 1972 is on University Road adjacent to the University of Karachi. The College was raised to university status in 1977 – starting at that time with three Engineering Disciplines. The University however now offers undergraduate programmes in 19 (nineteen ) disciplines including Architecture at the City Campus and two disciplines in the bio-medical Engineering Department located in the LEJ Campus virtually donated to the university in 2004. The University now also offers postgraduate programmes in all its disciplines as well as one in Environmental Engineering which is not included amongst undergraduate degree programmes – all its degrees have international recognition.

B. The university has its own Digital Library and is also its own Internet Service Provider. Under the Development Programme being funded by the Higher Education Commission not only are more new Engineering disciplines being introduced but the entire infrastructure of this university is being expanded and strengthened.

C. The NED University did not make the mistake of going in from the very beginning exclusively for research and production of Doctorate Degrees despite pressures from the Higher Education Commission. It concentrated first on production of first class graduate engineers who could be absorbed by industries, public utilities and all other concerns employing engineers. Thereafter it concentrated on offering several Master’s level Postgraduate Degree programmes; the arrangements made included provision for working graduate engineers to improve their qualifications by attending evening classes.

2. The University has now four fully formed Faculties Civil Engineering and Architecture, Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, Electrical and Computer Engineering along with Information, Sciences and Humanities plus the fifth Faculty of Chemical, Metallurgical and Process Engineering now under formation. Within this framework, undergraduate programmes are offered in nineteen disciplines on regular basis along with one other only in Conversion Course in Marine Engineering for individuals holding Mercantile Marine Chief Engineer’s tickets.

3. At the next stage, Postgraduate Masters’ level programmes are also offered ten (10) in Engineering along with one each in Computer Science and in Architecture and Planning. These Master level Degree programmes are offered mostly in the evenings because by far the majority of individuals seeking admission to these programmes are employed and can attend classes only in evening. The University also has its Doctorate Degree programme which at present is restricted only for Faculty Development but would be opened to outside Research Scholars within about two years – in all probably from July 2011.

4. Faculty Members in this University are encouraged to devote as much time as possible to Research without however in any way affecting their responsibilities for teaching undergraduates which has to be their primary responsibility. This University now publishes its Half Yearly Research Journal.

5. The University has also recently begun addressing all its Alumni both in Pakistan and abroad. The University wants only ‘good will’ from its Alumni; until recently it was not able to establish proper contacts but this deficiency is also now being remedied/rectified.

6. The University also attaches great importance to Student Facilities including Co-Curricular as well as Sports and Games besides Industrial Liaison. It encourages all legitimate student activities but does not permit any political religious or ethnic activity within the Campuses.


The Institute of Business Administration, Karachi

The IBA was established in 1995 as a USAID - Government of Pakistan project, Initially the Wharton School of Finance, University of Pennsylvania, provided the technical support; later the University of Southern California got the contract. Both the contractors helped set up the first modem business school in the sub-continent out of North America. Several prominent American professors were assigned to the IBA. A large number of Pakistani faculty members received advanced degrees from Wharton and USC. Till 1994, the University of Karachi awarded degrees to IBA graduates and then in that year, the Sindh Assembly elevated the Institute's status to that of a degree-awarding institution. Inspite of a rapid increase in the number of business schools in the country, the IBA has maintained its position as the premier institution of higher learning in the field of business administration.






The vision of IBA is to become a world-class business school for leadership and innovation in management and be counted among the top 50 business schools in Asia. For this, the IBA administration upholds and promotes the core values of merit, truth, integrity, creativity, discipline and tolerance amongst its faculty, students and administrative staff. The administration of IBA tries to ensure that no meritorious student be deprived of studying at IBA due to his/her financial constraints.

Distinguishing features of the IBA are the induction of students though a systematic and merit-based admission process, training in a demanding academic environment, and on-time completion of study programs. Admission procedures, curricula, methods of instruction and the system of examinations at the IBA give it a unique position among leading educational institutions in Pakistan.

News/Events

Oxbridge Alumni Get-Together at BDHC On 21st Oct, 2023:

The OCSKET alumni get-together took place on October 21, 2023, marking nearly four years since the last gathering. Mr. Mohammed Rajpar, Chairman of OCSKET, graciously hosted the event, joined by the esteemed presence of British Deputy High Commissioner Ms. Sarah Mooney. Among the attendees, special recognition was given to Mrs. Erum Rahim, the oldest alumna and the first Pakistani woman to have attended Cambridge University.

The Trustees were keen to meet with the Alumni in order to update the Trust’s activities. Mr. Mohammed Rajpar recalled the Society had set up the Trust with one of the principal aims being to keep a philanthropic link with Oxbridge which has been done on a regular basis with the Trust donating a small annual amount to those scholars who have gained entry. He further stated since the Society is moribund no new fundraising activities have occurred since several years so either it is time to reignite the Society or ask the Trust to perform those functions by creating a subset of Alumni to pursue such affairs.

Mr. Mohammed Rajpar requested Trustee Mr. Bilal Ahmed to brief regarding the current state of the Trust’s financial affairs.

Mr. Bilal Ahmed stated the Trustees are focusing to ensure the corpus of funds that the Trust possesses is deployed in the highest return generating assets however, with the devaluing currency the ability to fund scholarships, especially for international education, is severely limited hence the Trustees are focusing on developing a high impact with the donations.

He informed currently, 39 students at NED and 2 at Oxbridge are funded by the Trust. Oxbridge students are awarded partial scholarships that assist them with their overall expenses so far, the Trust has assisted 18 students at Oxbridge and in the ongoing year, both the Oxbridge scholars are females demonstrating the focus of the Trust to encourage gender diversity. Mr. Bilal Ahmed concluded going forward, the Trust will focus on maintaining the current corpus of funds and looking at avenues to enhance funding.

Mr. Farouq Rahimtoola thanked the British Deputy High Commissioner for use of her home and informed her that there is an association right from the start of the Society followed by the fund raising through The Blues Ball that makes Alumni feel “at home” in this environment. He informed that when he was Chairman, Trust went through the Covid pandemic and consequently our inability to organize more meetings. He added OCSKET was born through the Society and is the former’s entity. He recalled “Mr. Zia Khaleeli and some of us made it happen and I am delighted my signature is on the Trust Deed.

However due to the legal issues there has been a reverse takeover. This does not change the relationship. The younger alumni have to play their part and support fundraising for the Trust be it by holding debates, musical evenings, plays or even the Ball. OCSKET is not allowed to receive any foreign exchange donations e.g. when a scholar wanted to return the scholarship amount as she was employed abroad but this is not allowed albeit eventually OCSKET did receive funds from her but it was done via her family. It is now in the hands of the younger alumni to make a success of the Trust and find the appropriate method to raise funds.”

Mr. Zia Khaleeli extended thanks to BDHC for its support since the start of the Trust. He added more than mere support, BDHC provided the personal residence for every Blues Ball which was the foundation of our financially viable Trust. He informed The Noon Foundation is celebrating its 75th Anniversary in September 2024 in Lahore & Islamabad and OCSKET has had a relationship with Noon since the start of OCSKET and Mr. Paul Flathers at Oxford has been the point of contact. He elaborated OCSKET has had a long association with Noon in financing one scholarship a year for most years over the last 15 years whereas in comparison neither Lahore nor Islamabad alumni financed a single scholar. He said he will introduce Mr. Mohammed Rajpar to Paul and request him to persuade Paul to also hold a Noon function in Karachi.

Mr. Zia Khaleeli noted that Rhodes Foundation recently celebrated 50 years in Pakistan and have sent one scholar every year to Oxford of which only one Rhodes Scholar was from Karachi whilst the remainder of the scholars were from the North of Pakistan. He said Rhodes Pakistan should stop being provincial and extend their net of scholars throughout Pakistan.

He concluded since the recent news is that Rhodes Pakistan will be sending two scholars a year to Oxford therefore we should try to ensure the second scholar should be from Provinces other than the Punjab.

Ms. Sarah Mooney welcomed all the participants and expressed her pleasure about maintaining the traditional host relationship with Oxbridge Alumni and also offered the venue in future especially in case another Blues Ball was organized.

Dinner In Honor Of Ms. Frewyeni Kidane, Head Of Advancement & Development At Rhodes House:

On October 16, 2023, OCSKET hosted a welcome dinner in honor of Ms. Frewyeni Kidane, Head of Advancement at Rhodes House, during her visit to Pakistan. Esteemed Trustees and distinguished members of the Oxbridge community were invited to grace the occasion. Ms. Frewyeni Kidane expressed her delight at meeting with Oxbridge members and commended the organization’s efforts in promoting women's empowerment. Ms. Frewyeni Kidane also took the opportunity to announce annual sponsorship of two scholars from Pakistan to Oxford University.

Members Directory

Our current membership comprises as under:

First Name Email
1 Abdul Ghani Dadabhoy aghani04@gmail.com
2 Abid Sattar abid.sattar@askaribank.com.pk
3 Abubakar Chundrigar abubakrichundrigar@gmail.com
4 Adeel Ahmed adeel_ahmed85@protonmail.com
5 Adnan Shaikh adnanshaikh@sabb.com
6 Aftab Nabi aftabnabi@gmail.com
7 Agha Salik Ahmed Khan aghasalik@gmail.com
8 Akhass Wasti akhass.wasti@gmail.com
9 Alia Ali aliathinkspace@gmail.com
10 Aliya Masood masood.aliya@gmail.com
11 Aliya Yousufi aliya.yusuf@orrdignam.com
12 Allah Bakhsh Malik abmmalik@yahoo.com
13 Ameer Bakhsh Bhutto abhutto@yahoo.com
14 Amir Jafri amir.Jafri.Oba@said.oxford.edu
15 Amna Khalili Khaliliamna2@gmail.com
16 Anas Makhdoom anas.makhdoom@gmail.com
17 Aneesuddin Ahmed aneesuddin_a@hotmail.com
18 Anjum Halai anjum.halai@aku.edu
19 Anna Rasheed Ahmed rashtur@cyber.net.pk
20 Ansa Zafar z_ansa@hotmail.com
21 Arif Khan Abbasi arifabbasi@asccl.com / rahmaabbasi@gmail.com
22 Asad Jahangir Khan Ajk-pk@yahoo.com
23 Asad Sayeed asadsayeed@gmail.com
24 Ashfan Alnoor Charania ashfan.ramji@gmail.com
25 Askari Chandoo askari@chandoo.com
26 Ayub Ahmed ayubahmed@hotmail.com
27 Chishty/Durainow Mujahid chishtymujahid@gmail.com/durainow@hotmail.com
28 Daanish Bhimjee daanishb@hotmail.com
29 Dara Bashir Khan darabashir@gmail.com
30 Dr. Masuma Hasan masumahasan@hotmail.com
31 Gideon Brier gideon_bierer@yahoo.com
32 Faisal Siddiqi siddiqilaw@yahoo.com
33 Hasan Askari hasan.askari@btinternet.com
34 Dr.Hasanat Sharif hasanat.sharif@aku.edu
35 Hassan Aslam Hba26@cantab.ac.uk
36 Hassan Shehzad Mumtaz hassan.mumtaz@phitech.com.pk
37 Iran Ispahani Rahim irrahim@yahoo.com
38 Irshad Qadir irshadakadir@hotmail.com
39 John Ashley jmashley22@gmail.com
40 Junaid Marvi Junaid.marvi@oba.co.uk
41 Justice Nasir Zahid nasiraslamzahid@gmail.com
42 Kairas N Kabraji kairas.kabraji@kandtlaw.com
43 Kamal Uddin Azfar kamalazfar@kamalazfar.com
44 Khalid Anwar rai@cyber.net.pk
45 Kulsum Ahmed kulsum.ka.ahmed@gmail.com
46 M. Akram Fahim akramfahim@yahoo.com
47 M. Iqbal Qureshi huvc@hamdard.edu.pk
48 Mahreen Khan mahreen_khan@hotmail.com
49 Makhdoom Ali Khan makhdoom.khan@fazleghani.com
50 Mariyah Mazari mariyahmazari@gmail.com
51 Mehvish Muneera Ismail mehvishmuneera@cantab.net/ mehvishmuneera@gmail.com
52 Menaal Safi Munshey munchey@gmail.com
53 Miriam Kugele miriam.kugele@aku.edu
54 Moeed Mudassir Moeed.Mudassir@enipakistan.com.pk
55 Mohammed A Rajpar mail@gsa.com.pk
56 Morial Shah morialshah@gmail.com
57 Muhammad Bilal Ahmed mbilal.ahmed@dawoodgroup.com
58 Munnawar Hamid munnawar.hamid@hotmail.com
59 Musabbir Abdul Majeed musabbirmajeed@gmail.com
60 Naeem Malik naeemwmalik@gmail.com
61 Naiza Khan naizahkhan@gmail.com
62 Najeeb Samie najeebsamie@hotmail.com
63 Najeeba Tariq Khan najeeba.khan@gmail.com
64 Nasir Aslam Zahid nasiraslamzahid@gmail.com
65 Nasser Ali nasseral@dibpak.com
66 Naveed M Javeri naveedjaveri@gmail.com
67 Nazir Ahmed Choudhry choudhry@cyber.net.pk
68 Neesha Dara Khan neesha.dk@gmail.com
69 Nimra Azhar nimraazhar01gmail.com
70 Omar Sial osial@omarsial.com
71 Prof. Dr. Atta-ur-Rehman aurrehman1942@gmail.com
72 Qadir H Sayeed qhsayeed@icloud.com
73 Raana Shaikh raanashaikh@gmail.com
74 Rida Zafar ridamaryamzafar@gmail.com
75 Rumi Dossal rumidossal@yahoo.co.uk
76 S Nasir & Anne Nasir nasiranne@yahoo.com
77 S. U. Khan Saifullah.Khan@sukhan.com.pk
78 Sadia Khan sadiakhan_2000@hotmail.com
79 Saeed Y Chinoy saeedchinoy@yahoo.co.uk
80 Saima Hassan Cyma_h@hotmail.com / shassan@numl.edu.pk
81 Saira & Muddassar Malik muddassar.m.malik@gmail.com/ mmm@bmafunds.com
82 Saira Akhtar akhtar.saira@googlemail.com
83 Salam Memon salammemon@gmail.com
84 Saleem Vahidy saleemvahidy@gmail.com
85 Saleha Shahid Shafiq saleha_shafiq@hotmail.com
86 Salik Nazir Ahmed Sandy12744@yahoo.com
87 Salim Raza raza.salim@gmail.com
88 Salima Feerasta salima@feerasta.net
89 Salman Burney salman.burney@hoh.net
90 Salman Siddiqui salman.siddiqui@gmail.com
91 Sameer Khan sameer.khan@pembroke-oxford.com
92 Samiyah Hamdani samiyah.hamdani@aku.edu
93 Samir Feroze samir@veriqual.com
94 Sana Khan sana.z.kha@gmail.com / sana.z.kha@googlemail.com
95 Shabana Pervez shabanapervez@gmail.com
96 Shafeeq A.K Hussain sakh@cyber.net.pk
97 Shahnur Chauhan shahnur.chauhan@hotmail.com
98 Shahzad Khan shahzad@whyztech.com
99 Shakil Saigol chandsaigol@hotmail.com
100 Shameen Bashir shameenb@gmail.com
101 Shehzad Jeeva shehzad.jeeva@aku.edu
102 Shehzad Mehbub icaltd@cyber.net.pk
103 Sima Kamil staff@rasta.com
104 Suhail Zaheer Lari suhaillari@gmail.com
105 Sulaiman Ijaz sulaiman.ijaz@engro.com
106 Suroor Rahimtoola suroor.labels97@gmail.com
107 Syed Akbar Hussain syedakbarhusain@yahoo.com
108 Tabinda Kazmi tabinda_k@hotmail.com
109 Tara Uzra Dawood tudawood@gmail.com
110 Tariq Nasir Zufar tariqnz@gmail.com
111 Usman Hamid Malik umalik.hamid@gmail.com
112 Walid Iqbal walid.iqbal@lexiumlaw.com
113 Zahid Majeed zahid.majeed@nfoods.com
114 Zaituna Shah zaituna.shah@gmail.com
115 Zarmeen Z Bashir zkatchi@yahoo.com
116 Zehra Dara Khan zehradarakhan@gmail.com
117 Zia Kalim zkalim@hotmail.com
118 Zia Khaleeli khaleeli.zia@gmail.com

Following are considered as members however, their contact particulars are missing. In case anyone has their contact particulars please inform trust@oxbridge.org.pk

Anees Hussain
Asif Ahmed
Fahimea Haroon
Javed Hussain
Khurram Aleem
Syed Ronaq Raza
Zain Hak



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