Productivity: Outreach directorate to be set up at UAF

UAF is planning to house another 30,000 students in the coming decade, says UAF Vice Chancellor.

FAISALABAD:

The University of Agriculture Faisalabad (UAF) syndicate on Sunday decided to set up a directorate of outreach for dissemination of knowledge to farmers for boosting agricultural productivity.

Speaking on the occasion, UAF Vice Chancellor Iqrar Ahmad Khan said the new directorate would help farmers gain better access to technologies developed by UAF scientists.

He urged the government to open at least one university in every district of the province to make higher education more accessible and affordable. Khan said the UAF was planning to house another 30,000 students in the coming decade. For that, he said, the university needed massive investment in infrastructure. He said the UAF had started 10 new first-degree courses in the last five years. “Eleven master’s programmes, two associate degrees, three MPhil and three PhD programmes will be started soon to meet the growing needs,” he said. The syndicate also Rs3289.906 million budget that would be presented in the upcoming meeting of the university senate.

It also requested the government to support the university by providing it Rs719.710 million to bridge the gap between receipts and expenditures during 2013-14.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 1^st, 2013.