KMU to establish offshore campus in Kabul

The Vice Chancellor of Khyber Medical University (KMU), Peshawar Professor Dr Ziaul Haq has said that KMU plans to open an offshore campus in Kabul to provide education facilities to Afghan students at their doorstep.

He said this at a meeting with a high-level delegation of the Consulate General of Afghanistan in Peshawar, led by Mufti Noorullah, Qari Habibullah, and Nusratullah Zia.

Dean basic medical sciences and coordinator centralized admission committee Professor Dr Jawad Ahmed, director admission Muhammad Arshad Khan, deputy registrar establishment Inamullah Wazir, coordinator to VC Muhammad Tayyab and representatives of Afghan students were also present on the occasion.

Welcoming the delegation, Professor Dr Ziaul Haq said that thousands of Afghan students are currently being provided higher education in Pakistan including KMU. He said that the suffering of the Afghan nation over the last several decades was felt by all Pakistanis and especially the people of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P).

KMU was not only providing education services to Afghan students in MBBS and BDS but in various fields of nursing, physiotherapy, public health, and allied health sciences. Dr Zia said that besides Allama Iqbal Scholarships, the government of Pakistan had reserved seats for Afghan students in various education institutions on which Afghan students are being provided facilities to pay fees at the rate of Pakistani students.

“Our doors are open to Afghan students and we are working on KMU’s offshore campus (international campus) to provide them with higher education opportunities in Pakistan’s education institutions as well as in Kabul and other Afghan cities,” he added. The establishment plan is being implemented, the initial approval of which has been obtained from the KMU syndicate in addition to the Higher Education Commission, Islamabad.

He urged the delegation of the Islamic Emirate to talk to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Pakistan through the Afghan Ministry of Foreign Affairs to implement the proposed project so that work on the said proposal could be started.

He assured the delegation that a letter will be issued to Secretary Health K-P on a priority basis to reduce the fees of Afghan students while the issue of hostel for female students will also be resolved soon.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 17^th, 2022.