UET Jalozai campus resumes academic session after one-year lapse

Varsity was closed after attack in Bacha Khan university for failing to meet the prescribed security standards

PESHAWAR: The  University of Engineering and Technology (UET) Jalozai Campus resumed educational activities after a lapse of one year as it had been closed due to security reasons after militants had attacked Bacha Khan University on January 20, 2016.

This was disclosed by UET Peshawar Pro-Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Noor Muhammad at a press conference held on Tuesday at UET conference hall.

In April 2016 police had forced the varsity administration to close the Jalozai campus over failure to adopt prescribed  security measures by K-P government in the wake of the militant attack on the Bacha Khan University Charsadda on January 20, 2016, which killed 18 students and employees.

After closing the campus, the administration decided to shift over 300 students to the UET’s main campus in Peshawar and made arrangement for their classes and accommodation in hostels.

The Vice Chancellor pointed out that within a short time of his taking over ,the Jalozai campus was reopened from the first week of this month where classes of the B.Sc. Civil Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Industrial Engineering and Electrical Engineering have started.

He said that it was a critical decision, involving the future of students, that’s why the matter was taken to the Syndicate in its 103rd meeting held on April 18, 2017. “I am grateful to the concerned quarters for their serious deliberation on the matter which has saved the valuable time of the students,” he informed.

The Vice-Chancellor expressed the aim of keeping UET Peshawar in the forefront of quality education as the only premier engineering university of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

He informed that UET Peshawar was not a conventional university like the other general universities of the province. As an engineering university, the accreditation of engineering disciplines and campuses of UET Peshawar needed to be approved by the Pakistan Engineering Council (PEC), the professional and statutory federal institution for accreditation and regulation of chartered and professional engineers.

In a short time period and with tireless efforts of the management, he informed, PEC approved the accreditation for the students of Electrical Engineering Department of Kohat Campus from 2010, 2011 and 2012 sessions, calling it a major achievement of the University.

He said that at present, the development budget of UET Peshawar was Rs. 8.6 billion while a revised PC-1 for Jalozai Campus was in the process of review for approval of the Planning Commission.

With this portfolio, the development projects included, “Establishment of Jalozai Campus”; “Establishment and Strengthening of Earthquake Engineering Center (EEC)” and “Strengthening and Upgrading of Core-Engineering Departments of UET Mardan Campus”.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 10^th, 2017.