Abbottabad: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government is establishing six new government degree colleges in Hazara Division and expanding higher education opportunities. This was disclosed by Regional Director Higher Education Hazara Division, Professor Tariq Mahmood Abbasi while talking to media here today.
He further said that through quality education, skill development programmes, internships and merit-based recruitment of teachers we will provide quality education to our youth.
Professor Tariq Mahmood said the initiatives were aimed at equipping young people with modern skills and improving their employment prospects. He added that the Regional Directorate of Higher Education Hazara, established in 2022, was playing a key role in strengthening the administration and monitoring of government colleges across the division.
Prof. Abbasi said Hazara Division currently has 48 government degree colleges, while six more institutions are under construction. A Girls Degree College has been approved at Judba in Torghar district, while Mansehra City College has already been established.
Work is also in progress to establish new colleges in Lora and Galiyat to improve access to higher education for students in remote areas. He added that evening classes had also been introduced at Government Postgraduate Colleges in Abbottabad and Mansehra, Government College Mandian, and five government colleges in Haripur to accommodate more students.
He said quality education was being provided in government degree colleges at an annual fee of around Rs8, 000, while teachers were recruited strictly on merit through the Public Service Commission. The provincial government was also offering merit-based scholarships for deserving students.
To improve employability, skill development programmes were being launched at postgraduate colleges in Abbottabad, Mansehra and Haripur, while internship opportunities had been introduced after the fifth semester of BS programmes.