University of Malakand

University of Malakand
یونیورسٹی آف ملاکنڈ

An aerial view of Malakand University
Motto in English
University at Glance...'
Established 2001
Type Public
Chancellor Governor of Khyber–Pakhtunkhwa
Vice-Chancellor Dr. Johar Ali
Registrar Khush Dil Khan
Students 2700
Undergraduates 2500
Postgraduates ~200
Location Malakand, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa,  Pakistan
Campus Rural
Colours Green, Gold, Cyan            
Nickname UoM
Affiliations HEC
Website www.uom.edu.pk

The 'University of Malakand' (Urdu: یونیورسٹی آف ملاکنڈ); abbreviated as 'UOM'), is a public university located in the banks of the Swat river and the rural area of Lower Dir district of the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.[1] There is no library science department in UOM.

Founded in 2001, the university offers undergraduate, post-graduate and doctoral programmes in various academic disciplines.[2] As of 2010, the university secured its place at the general category and ranked "seventh" by the HEC.[3] Since its establishment in 2001, the university has been focused on sincerely towards the attainment of excellence of higher education and to bring prosperity in the country.[4]

University of Malakand

History and background

The need for a University in Malakand Division has been a felt since 1972, but due to political polarizations between different political parties, the idea could not be materialized until 2001.

The present site for establishing a university was proposed by the Ex. Governor Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Mr. Syed Iftikhar Hussain Shah. Prof: Dr. Lutfullah Kakakhel former advisor to Governor, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa is the key person in establishing of this institution.

After the announcement some legal points were raised by the provincial law department regarding establishing a university in the PATA (Provincially Administered Tribal Area) under Article 247 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, a very old impediment in opening a University in the area since 1973.

The issue was resolved by the Honorable Governor by referring the case to the President to the Islamic Republic of Pakistan who permitted the university through a Presidential order/ Regulation. Hence, in a sense this is the only university in Pakistan chartered/ established by the highest seats of power in the country, the President of Islamic Republic of Pakistan and the Governor Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.

The provincial Government, through a Gazette Notification No P-III dated 27 October 2001 (Extra Ordinary) formally announced a University for Lower Dir District on the premises of the defunct D.F.I.C (Dir Forest Industries Complex) at Chakdara.

Vice chancellors

  1. Prof. Dr. Jehandar Shah (Founder Vice Chancellor, From: August, 2001 till September, 2007)
  2. Prof. Dr. Mohammad Iqbal (From: September, 2007 till 15 April 2008) Caretaker
  3. Prof. Dr. Rasul Jan (From: 16 April 2008 till ....)
  4. Prof. Dr. Johar Ali

Convocations

The Convocations for the Bachelor of Science (Hons) and Bachelors of Arts (Hons) are held on the following dates.

Currently, Masters of Science and Masters of Arts programs are also going on but no convocation has been held for them.

Departments

The University of Malakand is the only University in the KPK, which is rich of the dedicated scientists having PhDs in the fields of Computer Science, Biochemistry, Biotechnology, and Mathematics.

  1. Department of Archaeology
  2. Department of Bio-Technology
  3. Department of Botany
  4. Department of Computer Science/IT ( Aman Ullah Khan )
  5. Department of Economics
  6. Department of Education
  7. Department of English
  8. Department of Geology
  9. Department of Islamic Studies
  10. Department of Journalism and Mass Communication
  11. Department of Law
  12. Department of Management Studies
  13. Department of Mathematics
  14. Department of Pashto and Oriental Languages
  15. Department of Political Science
  16. Department of Pharmacy
  17. Department of Physics
  18. Department of Psychology
  19. Department of Sociology/Social Work
  20. Department of Software Engineering
  21. Department of Statistics
  22. Department of Tourism and Hotel Management
  23. Department of Zoology

Terrorist attack

On 18 March 2009 around 1:30 a.m. a group of terrorists tried to enter the university and take vehicles.[6] The security guard tried to stop them; meanwhile, a police squad, which was on routine round in the area, heard some shots and came on the spot. The terrorists fired a rocket on the police vehicle. As a result three policemen, including one Assistant Sub-Inspector and the security guard of the university (Mr. Khaliq Dad) were killed. The terrorists stole two vehicles from the university and left the two they used to come to the university. Later on Taliban claimed that they captured a group of fourteen people near Shamozai. Initially the told they would hand them over to the authorities, but because of the bad situation in the whole Malakand division nothing actually happened to investigate the incident.

Bank and post office

There is a branch of National Bank of Pakistan and a Post Office in the university. An ATM has been installed on the premises, which has facilitated the students and the staff very much.

References

  1. Google maps. "Address and location of Malakand University". Google map services. Google Pakistan, Inc. Retrieved 30 December 2013.
  2. UoM. "Academic degree programmes offers". Malakand University Press. Retrieved 30 December 2013.
  3. HEC. "Quality and Research based Ranking of Pakistan's HEIs". Higher Education Commission. Retrieved 30 December 2013.
  4. "Introduction of Malakand University". Introduction of Malakand University. Retrieved 30 December 2013.
  5. http://www.dawn.com/2007/02/11/nat33.htm
  6. http://www.bbc.co.uk/urdu/pakistan/2009/03/090318_dir_attack_rh.shtml

Also Aman Ullah Khan which was student in Computer Science Department.