01 January 2005	Saturday	19 Ziqa'ad 1425

PESHAWAR, Dec 31: The Higher Education Regulatory Authority (HERA) has not approved any application for setting up a private university or college in the NWFP, it was learnt.

HERA was set up in October 2002 by the NWFP government to 'streamline, supervise and regulate the functions of the private educational institutions', including private colleges and universities.

Since its establishment the authority had received more than 100 applications for registration, but none of those applications came up to the prescribed standards, said Karim Khan, chairman of the HERA.

The regulatory authority had even relaxed the guidelines drawn by the Higher Education Commission (HEC), but even then the credentials of the applicants for establishing a university fell short of the requirements.