Tuesday 2nd November 2021 – A productive and critical meeting took place with the Consul General of Pakistan, Abdul Hameed, at the Consulate General of Pakistan in Toronto, Canada. The objective of the meeting was to underscore the importance of facilitating the process through which students from Pakistan come to Canada to achieve their educational goals. One of the key topics of discussion was to brainstorm systematic solutions to overcome hurdles students from Pakistan currently face in attaining a Canadian student visa.
Members from the MNA Management Group, including Mr. Nadeem Aslam (Chairman), Mr. Ahmed Mazhar Bashir (Advisor – Projects & Education), and Dr. Saghir Mehar (Leadership & Strategy, Senior Fellow HEA), were greeted by the Pakistan Consulate and commended for bringing such a critical issue to light.
The MNA Management Group proceeded to present results from an internal research project that assessed the success/failure rate of students from Pakistan in achieving Canadian student visas. Critically, they found that an alarming number of students from Pakistan were unsuccessful in attaining a student visa from Canada, particularly when compared to students from other countries.
One of the most encouraging aspects of the meeting was that the Consul General, Abdul Hameed, was familiar with some of the findings presented and had already begun implementing solutions that serves the needs of students from Pakistan. The MNA Management Group reiterated their commitment in aiding students from Pakistan achieve their educational goals in Canada and highlighted how their diverse offerings, including access to education experts, financial advisors, and immigrations advisors, can support this initiative.
After several hours of discussion, the meeting concluded with agreements of further collaboration between the Consulate General of Pakistan and the MNA Management Group to satisfy this urgent need. In the future, the MNA Management Group hopes to be closely involved in bringing about systematic solutions to amend the Canadian student visa landscape in favour of students from Pakistan.
