| University of Peshawar | |
|---|---|
| Motto | رَبِّ زدْنيِ عِلْماً (Arabic) |
| Motto in English | O' God, Increase my Knowledge |
| Established | 1950 |
| Type | Public |
| Vice-Chancellor | Professor Maher Altaf Hussain Naul Mob:0343-7915586 |
| Admin. staff | 2,693[1] |
| Students | 14,060[1] |
| Postgraduates | 578[1] |
| Location | Peshawar, Pakistan |
| Website | www.upesh.edu.pk |
The University of Peshawar (abbreviated UOP) (Urdu: پشاوريونيورسٹي ) is a public sector university in the city of Peshawar, Pakistan. The university was established in October 1950 by Mr. Liaquat Ali Khan, the first Prime Minister of Pakistan as an offshoot of Islamia College Peshawar, which was founded in 1913.
The University of Peshawar is an institution where educational facilities exist from nursery to Ph.D. Located in Peshawar, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, it operates as a residential campus spread over 1,000 acres (4 km2). The University of Peshawar is ranked as the 4th Best General Purpose University by the Higher Education Commission of Pakistan (HEC).[2]
The university comprises six faculties with forty postgraduate departments, four centres, two centres of excellence, four colleges and three high schools. Student population on campus is over 20,000.
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In its inaugural year it had an enrollment of 129, of whom one was a female. Although the university was established in 1950 it was initially Islamia College. The founder of Pakistan, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, who had visited the college in 1928 had great admiration for it. He would refer to it as ‘My College’ and adopted it as one of the three heirs to his fortune, along with Aligarh University and Sindh Madrassa (his own school) in 1939. For Jinnah the university was a gift to students of the province, in recognition of the part played by them in the making of Pakistan, and how it was the Pashtuns who had fought the Indians and captured Azad Kashmir.[3]
The Department of Computer Science was established in 1983 as a Computer Study Centre to provide training in computer languages. In 1985, the centre was upgraded to the Department of Computer Science and it started graduate classes the same year. The BCS programme was introduced in 1998 as an evening shift course. The Department offers a BCS programme in the morning as well as in the evening . Evening classes run under a self finance scheme. The department is situated on the first floor of the north wing of the Old Arts Block adjacent to STC.[4]
The Department of Psychology was established in 1964. Dr. Shahabuddin Muhammad Moghni, laid the foundations of the department as its first Professor and Chairman. Initially it offered a Masters programme of two years duration. Ph.D. and M.Phil programmes were offered in 1973 and 1978 respectively. Bi-monthly seminars and annual conferences are other activities of the department.
The department offers Social Psychology, Clinical Psychology, Psychological Testing, Counseling, Developmental Psychology, and Experimental Psychology. The department has a library and a laboratory, a computer section, and a Mass Communication laboratory. A 4-year Integrated BS Programme was started in 2009 and Diploma Courses in Clinical Psychology, CBT, and Industrial and Organizational Psychology are planned for 2010-11.
Khyber College of Dentistry
Khyber College of Dentistry as a department of dentistry was created in 1964. It was upgraded from the status of a department of Khyber Medical College in 1990. Dr. Ahmad Iqbal was appointed as first Chairman and Principal of the Khyber College of Dentistry. The first batch graduated in 1968 and the Pakistan medical and dental council accorded recognition to the B.D.S degree in Nov 1968. It has grown to become a post-graduate teaching institute with an Oral and Dental hospital. Surgeries, operating theaters and wards are included in its buildings.
Islamia College, founded in 1913, with the object of imparting knowledge of modern sciences, along with a grounding in the principles of Islam to the youth of the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province. The college prepares students in all science subjects and the humanities for the Intermediate Examinations of the Peshawar Board of Secondary Education and for the Degree examinations of the University of Peshawar. The Islamia College is a residential college with 75% of its students and nearly the whole staff living on the campus.
The Jinnah College for women, formally called University College for Women, was established in June 1964. The college provides educational opportunities to the university employee’s children and young women of the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa on merit. Opportunities are provided for participation in extra curricular activities such as debates, dramatic and literary competitions and so on. Educational trips and study tours are also arranged.
Its two storied building consists of classrooms, lecture-theatres, laboratories, a library with two reading rooms, an office and a hall. The college has lawns, a botanical garden and a playground. The library has a collection of reference books, text books and books in specialized fields. The college hall, the Safia Hassan Hall, has a seating capacity of 300 students and is the venue for functions. The playground attached to the college is used for inter-class and inter college tournaments and college sports.
The Law College, University of Peshawar was established in 1950 and elevated to a faculty in 1992. However, the existing faculties of the university were re-structured and the Law College was placed under the Faculty of Social Sciences.
The college has an academic link with the University of Oslo, Norway, and has signed an MOU with the IUCN Pakistan, under which it will have institutional co-operation with the latter in the area of Environmental Law.
The Human Rights Studies Centre is part of the college and was established in March 2000 under the Government of Pakistan Human Rights and Mass Awareness and Education Programme, jointly funded by the NORAD and the Swiss Development Corporation. Its objective is to develop a curriculum for human rights as a subject at the Master's level and to co-ordinate the activities/research regarding human rights at the national and provincial level. It also aims at acting as a base for institutional co-operation between human rights agencies at national and international level. Head of the law college is Adnan Sarwar.
The college started an LLM program in 2008.
The Quaid-e-Azam College of Commerce was established in 1962. It was established out of funds bequeathed by the Father of the Nation, Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah. It is an institution of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, offering one year and two years Master of Commerce programmes. The college offers specialization in Finance, Accounting, Marketing and Management.
The study of Home Economics as a distinct discipline was introduced in the country soon after the emergence of Pakistan. A separate department, devoted to the subject, was set up in 1954 by the University of Peshawar, in collaboration with Colorado State University, USA. The department was upgraded to college status in 1963. It is one of the four colleges in Pakistan devoted to the study of Home Economics. The institution covers fields such as interior design, textile design, small business management, teaching, and research.
The Department of Education was established in 1950, and elevated to the Institute of Education and Research (IER) a faculty of education in 1980. The university has been re-structured and IER is placed under the Faculty of Social Sciences.
The IER provides B.Ed and M.Ed training to prospective and in-service teachers of secondary and higher secondary schools. The training duration for both B.Ed and M.Ed is one year.
The college has eight departments and thirteen faculty members, housed in a separate building. It has a library, science and computer laboratories, seminar rooms, and lecture halls.[5]
The University of Peshawar merged the Department of Public and Business Administration into a single entity in 1994. Thus, the Institute of Management Studies (IMS) was established in 1995.
Peshawar Business School (PBS) is considered as one amongst the best educational institute in the entire region. It is located in the posh area of University Town. At first PBS was perceived as the business school for elites only, but latter introduction of multiple scholarships and grants, the business school can now be accessible by any competent student. The school aims to attract students representing a wide range of interests, perspectives and experiences.
The competition for places at PBS is severe, fierce and inevitably, at times many well qualified applicants have not been accepted. To enroll a student into their campus, PBS judge the candidate on multiple dimensions to make a final decision, like the candidate exhibiting leadership potential, one's capacity for intellectual growth, and the drive to make a difference in one's respective communities.
The main market is situated in the Khyber House on campus. The building houses banks, two canteens, grocery shops, tailor shops, co-operative stores, and meat and vegetable shops. A cafeteria has been opened in the Teacher Student Centre. Some utility shops and a bookstore have been opened in the Teacher Student Centre.
The Teacher Student Centre is the focal point of the university's social, cultural and recreational activities. It provides services and facilities which support the academic programmes of the University.
The University Health Centre provides free medical aid to the students, university employees and their families.
A pay office of the National Bank of Pakistan was established in 1955. Later on it was raised to a full-fledged branch conducting all banking activities.
Branches of Habib Bank and United Bank are also on the campus.
The university has a fleet of buses which transport students. An intra-campus bus service is available.
The university campus is situated about 10 kilometres north west from the city centre on the main Grand Trunk Road leading towards Torkham, the historical border town. It is located on 1,050 acres (4 km2) of land, 1,199 ft (365 m). above sea level.
The university is the “mother” University of the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, founded in Oct. 1950. It has expanded over the last fifty years and a number of buildings have been added. The total built up area of the campus is more than 1,500,000 sq ft (140,000 m2). However, its original lawns and green tracts have been retained.
National organizations in the vicinity include the Pakistan Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, North Regional Laboratories; Academy for Rural Development; the Pakistan Forest Research Institute and College; the University of Engineering and Technology; the Agricultural University; Institute of Nuclear Medicine; and Khyber Teaching Hospital.
It is a residential university with a population of about 35000.
The university has a campus of 1,050 acres (4 km2). Grounds are levelled and turfed. Trees, bushes and hedges have been planted in the residential bungalows and on either side of the roads. and that's it.
Besides the regular university personnel, there is patrolling on the grounds by the campus peace corps.
The university has ten hostels, six for males with a capacity of 1949 and four for females with the capacity of 951. Beside these hostels, three new hostels have being constructed, two for boys and one for girls with a capacity of 300 each. These hostels are situated at walking distance from the teaching departments. Females’ hostels are located in the vicinity of Jinnah College for Women and the College of Home Economics.
Campus II of the University of Peshawar occupies 60 acres (240,000 m2) of land at Bara Gali on the Abbottabad Nathia Gali - Murree Road. This campus is 25 kilometers from Abbottabad at an altitude of 7,700 ft (2,350 m) above sea level.
Bara Gali, one of the most beautiful valley resorts with dense forests, tall mountains and a very pleasant climate, has been the summer campus of the University of Peshawar since 1965. It is the nucleus of the University's academic and research activities from May to September. Each summer more than 1000 people participate in national and international seminars, conferences, symposia, workshops, and training courses at this campus. Thousands of students from teaching departments/schools/colleges/centres visit Bara Gali, both in summer and winter, for academic and research purposes.
All of the students' co-curricular activities - a shooting club, hiking society, adventure club, medical camps, cross-country/road running, sports mela, and many others - take place at the Bara Gali Campus. Independence Day is celebrated each year with traditional pomp and show. The entire campus is illuminated at night.[6]