Daily Times

The work on the establishment of 63 new colleges in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa including the newly merged districts was in progress to provide the facilities of higher education to the students at their door steps by strengthening the higher education sector on sound footings.

Out of the total under construction colleges 32 were for girls and 31 were for boys while work on provision of missing facilities in 326 colleges was also in progress.

This was told in a meeting held here on Friday with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Mahmood Khan in the chair to review progress on the establishment of new colleges across the province.

The meeting was given a detailed presentation on the progress made so far on the ongoing and new schemes of colleges in the province.

The meeting among others was attended by Special Assistant to CM on Higher Education Kamran Bangash and Secretary Higher Education Muhammad Daud.

The meeting was informed that the establishment of 15 new colleges has been completed and classes will be formally launched in those colleges from the start of the coming academic session. Similarly, the work on 25 more colleges was in final stages which would be completed during the upcoming financial year.

The new colleges wherein the construction work has been completed include Government Girls Degree College Jalozai, Government Girls Degree College Tarkha, Government Degree College Barawal, Government Girls Degree College Ougi , Government Degree College Koh-eDaman, Government Girls Degree College Malambutt, Government Girls Degree College Par Hoti, Government Degree College Kotha, Government Girls Degree College Banda Daud Shah, Government Degree College Gandaf, Government Degree College Kot, Government Girls Degree College Billi Tang, Government Girls Degree College Home Economics Mardan, Government Girls Degree College Adenzai and Government College of Management Sciences (Women) Swabi.

While expressing his satisfaction on the overall progress on the establishment of new colleges in the province, the Chief Minister directed the authorities concerned to expedite the process of land acquisitions for some of the new colleges in the province and to take all the necessary steps in coordination with the concerned Deputy Commissioners to resolve all the issues of land acquisitions for colleges within one week time period. He further directed the authority concerned to ensure physical progress on all the projects of colleges as per the given timelines and to carry out a study for the next five years requirements of new colleges in the province so that realistic planning could be made in this regard keeping in view the future requirements of the province. He further directed the quarters concerned to reflect a developmental scheme in the new Annual Development Program to provide transport facilities to the students of colleges in the province. Similarly, he also directed the authorities concerned to include an ADP scheme in the upcoming budget to convert a University campus in Lower Dir to a full fledged University.