LAHORE, July 28: The Punjab government is expected to issue a notification shortly to formally upgrade the King Edward Medical College as King Edward Medical University
in line with the announcement made by Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi in this respect on July 23.
Sources said on Wednesday that the process for the upgradation of the King Edward Medical College (KEMC) as King Edward Medical University (KEMU) was started some four months ago when the KEMC and allied hospitals' Board of Management had passed a unanimous resolution that the government should transform the college into a full-fledged medical university.
They said the Punjab chief minister had also consulted all concerned, including top official at federal level, with regard to the upgradation of KEMC as university.
They said the grant of a university status to the KEMC was overdue as most colleges, younger to the KEMC, like the Government College, the FC College, the Lahore College for Women and the College of Veterinary Sciences had already been granted a university status.
Besides a glowing history, officials said, the KEMC was a self-contained and self-sufficient unit with all required teaching staff, laboratories, research facilities, resources as well as international standing to become a full-fledged university without any financial burden or implications.
They said the KEMC and allied Mayo, Lady Wellingdon and Lady Aitchison hospitals, spread over 69 acres of land with having 2,200 beds strength, form the biggest teaching complex of South East Asia.
They said the KEMC faculty comprised 40 professors, 53 associate professors and 78 assistant professors. The college was currently running 32 departments -- 25 clinical and seven basic subjects departments -- where students were being trained not only for MBBS but for 16 other degrees and diplomas, including FCPS Pakistan, MRCP UK and FRCS England.
They said the KEMC had produced 12,799 graduates, who were serving not only in Pakistan but all over the world, including the USA, the UK, Canada, Australia, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Iran and Dubai. They said the decision to upgrade KEMC as KEMU had been hailed at home and abroad.
The officials said the KEMC was the mother of all medical colleges in the country, including the Dow Medical College, Karachi, and the Liaquat Medical College, Hayderabad, which had already been upgraded as medical universities.
Answering a question, a KEMC senior official said the KEMU would have no rivalry with the University of Health Sciences. He said the KEMU would not oppose the handing over of the entry test and students' migration matters' powers to the UHS.
Regarding allegation that the KEMC faculty and authorities had opposed the creation of the UHS, he said that nothing was on record in this regard. He, however, said that almost all medical colleges in the province had opposed their forced affiliation with the UHS. He also said that the UHS neither had its strong faculty nor a constituent college.
About the blame that the college had been upgraded owing to the private medical colleges' owners and politically influential people's clout, he said the college had been given the university status owing to its international academic and research performance.
When contacted, KEMC principal Prof Dr Mumtaz Hasan said the upgraded KEMU would make all-out efforts to deliver. He said the college was currently offering training facilities to students of the colleges attached with the UHS.
He said the KEMU would also continue to support the UHS in all its educational endeavours. He said that he wished the UHS "good health and progress". Answering a question, he said, the KEMC was never given a charter or go-ahead to transform it into a university and it was the first historical decision that Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi had taken in this regard.
About fears that the KEMC would increase its fees after attaining the university status, Prof Hasan said the college had no financial constraints and would not increase fees.
Besides huge indigenous resources, he said the KEMC Alumni Association of North America was planning to give some one million dollars to its alma mater by the end of this year.
Regarding the conduct of examinations, he said, the KEMU would conduct transparent and fair examinations. He said the quality of education and transparency of the examinations would also be evident from the performance of KEMU graduates in international examinations.
