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Islamia College may be granted university status by year-end
Peshawar, Oct 26: Islamia College Peshawar - arguably the most famous and
historic educational institution of the Frontier province - is likely to be
granted the status of a public-sector university by the end of the year,
according to some sources.
NWFP Governor Ali Mohammad Jan Aurakzai - who
is the chancellor of the University of Peshawar, with which the college is
affiliated - has expressed his desire to promulgate the ordinance granting the
college the status of a university in December.
The Islamia College
Peshawar, established in 1913, had already sent to the governor the draft of an
ordinance for the establishment of a seat of learning called the "Islamia
University", official sources said on Thursday.
A proposal
concerning the upgradation of the 94-year-old college into a university is
currently being reviewed by the law department. Following the legal vetting the
governor will promulgate the ordinance changing the status of the college,
according to officials.
They said the PC-1 of the project, envisaging an
estimated cost of Rs478.33 million, was approved by the Provincial Development
Working Party in April, which was submitted to the ministry of higher education,
Islamabad, in June. The project was approved by the Central Development Working
Party (CDWP) on Sept 3.
"The planning commission had made it mandatory
for the NWFP governor to issue the ordinance before the final approval of PC-1
by the CDWP as the college's management has sent a draft ordinance to the higher
education department and the governor respectively," the official
said.
Even though the vice-chancellor of Peshawar University, through a
notification issued in May 2005, had allowed the college to start postgraduate
classes but this was never mentioned in admission advertisements by the
university.
The Islamia College faced a host of problems in getting its
status enhanced despite having the needed resources and faculty, including 30
PhDs. Postgraduate classes were held in the past as well but they could not be
continued due to lack of support from the University of Peshawar, said an
official of the college.
The Islamia University premises will initially
be spread over 250 acres of land in Peshawar. Later on an additional campus will
be established on land owned by the college in Charsadda, where it has 550 acres
of land, according to officials.
Two campuses of the proposed university
will be established in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata), one in
Charsadda and another one in Peshawar, which will be meant for girls, according
to them.
The proposed university would have the faculties of chemical
sciences, physical and numerical sciences, life sciences, management and social
sciences, religions and legal studies, languages and literature and other
academic units as might be determined under the statutes, officials
said.
The proposed university would have a population of about
5,000 students. It would initially be enrolling students in
certificate/diploma programmes. After passing these courses the aspiring
students shall be admitted to the four-year integrated Bachelor degree
programme, leading to the MS/PhD programme.
The first vice-chancellor
would be appointed by the governor. Later on, the task of appointing
vice-chancellors would be given to search committees. Dawn
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