Higher education: Sahiwal, RY Khan to have universities

LAHORE:

A university each will be set up in Sahiwal and Rahim Yar Khan this year.

Government College, Sahiwal, will be upgraded to university and merged with the sub campus of Bahauddin Zakaryia University, according to the budget announced on Friday.

Classes will commence in September 2014 subject to the approval of the university act by the Punjab Assembly.

The university will be set up at an estimated cost of Rs1 billion; Rs100 million has been allocated for it this financial year.

A university of engineering and information technology will be set up in Rahim Yar Khan at a cost of Rs3.5 billion. Rs792.99 million has been allocated for the project this year.

Initially, classes will be arranged at the Government College of Technology and the Khwaja Farid Post Graduate College from September 2014.

The university will be set up under the supervision of the University of Engineering and Technology, Lahore.

Three home economics colleges will also be set up in Faisalabad, Bahawalpur and Dera Ghazi Khan.

Separately, Education Minister Rana Mashhood Ahmed Khan has said the millennium development goal of 100 per cent literacy rate will be achieved in 2015, a year ahead of the 2016 deadline set earlier.

He was speaking at a meeting on Saturday to review reforms in the education sector.

Khan called the budget proposals pro-people. He said the share of education had been increased by 40 per cent over last year’s allocation.

Rs2 billion has been reserved for the Punjab Educational Endowment Fund, Rs7.5 billion for Daanish Schools in Lodhran, Mailsi, Jhang, Taunsa and Fort Munro and Rs48.31 billion for development projects.

Education vouchers would be given to the needy students for getting free education in private schools, the minister said.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 15^th, 2014.