Punjab Higher Education Commission (PHEC) Chairperson Prof Dr Mohammad Nizamuddin appreciated the efforts of the Government of Punjab for giving special attention to the higher education sector in the provincial budget for 2017-18 as the government has significantly increased the education budget this year.
“The efforts of the government should be lauded as a huge sum of Rs 1500m has been earmarked for the establishment of Leadership and Faculty Development Academy, Rs108m for the establishment of community colleges in Punjab and Rs 50m for the promotion of science education in higher education institutions of the province,” he said, while adding that Rs 500m have also been allocated to the Punjab Higher Education Commission (PHEC) under other development programme in the budget 2017-18.
“This budget allocation would help in launching new development initiatives to bring the higher education system at par with international standards; thus actualizing the chief minster’s vision of development,” he said while addressing a meeting of senior management committee held at PHEC Secretariat here on Thursday.
Dr Nizamuddin added that PHEC is taking several new initiatives in the fiscal year 2017-18 including the establishment of new universities and sub-campuses besides strengthening the already established campuses. “The budget would help PHEC grow as an institution and strengthen its infrastructure, which would enable it to better cater to higher education reforms in Punjab” said Dr Nizam. “Our plans include the establishment of 50 degree colleges in Punjab, provision of missing facilities in 30 public sector colleges of the province, and completion of the building of Khawaja Farid University of Engineering and Information Technology (KFUEIT) Rahim Yar Khan” he further added.
Dr. Nizam was of the view that PHEC is committed to bringing qualitative reforms in higher education sector of the province through various projects. PHEC is funding on various ongoing projects such as international travel grants, doctoral and post-doc scholarships, funding for conferences and seminars, community colleges, career counseling centers etc. whereas many other initiatives such as indigenous post-doc fellowships, thematic research grants etc. are in the pipeline. “our focus is on quality than quantity by strengthening the capacity of colleges and universities of the province”, concluded the chairperson.
