Rs 24b for govt-run universities in NWFP

Staff Report

PESHAWAR: The government will spend Rs 24 billion on public universities in the NWFP, an official told a meeting on Tuesday which reviewed the five years and 10 years masterplans.

NWFP Governor Syed Iftikhar Hussain Shah chaired the meeting.

Participants of the meeting were told that Rs four billion each would be allocated to Kohat, Malakand and Hazara universities. The Peshawar University, the University of Engineering and Technology, the Agricultural University and the Gomal University had been authorised to launch projects worth Rs three billion each, the meeting was told.

The participants urged that universities should spend Rs 1.5 billion to hire highly qualified teachers. They said that the remaining amount of each university’s allocation should be spent to modernise laboratories and libraries and to improve infrastructure. The meeting welcomed the measures by public sector universities in the province to adopt a uniform fee structure and administrative structure.

The participants praised the abolishing of self-finance scheme and launching of the evening classes in universities. The meeting stressed that measures should be taken to streamline the semester system. The meeting also asked universities to computerise the administrative procedures.

Higher Education Commission Chairman Professor Dr Attaur Rehman said that every university must select 50 masters degree holders on merit every year and sponsor their PhD education from abroad. He said that each department of a university must have at least 20 PhD faculty members. He said that universities should submit details of their five-year plan to the HEC within a fortnight. He said that the allocation for the current year for the provision of equipment would be released within a month and each university should immediately start procedural matters to develop their laboratories.

He urged the Agriculture University and the Engineering University to establish direct links with industrial and commercial institutions to increase the pace of research as well as the education institutions’ resources.

Home | National