ISLAMABAD, July 12: The Higher Education Commission (HEC) has approved a Rs30 million project to strengthen the department of mass communication at the Lahore College for Women University. According to a press release issued here on Tuesday, under the project, the Lahore College for Women University will be facilitated with a computer lab, a laboratory for newspaper production, audio-visual labs, photo lab, FM radio, outdoor broadcasting van, and books and journals for its seminar library.

It said after implementation of the project, the fully equipped and developed department of mass communication would not only facilitate the faculty in their research projects, but also train the future women journalists on modern lines.

The university will also initiate customized programme and professional courses for working journalists.

The project will help it in further developing linkages with mass communication departments of other universities across the country.

It is expected that after the implementation of the project, nearly 580 students — 480 at bachelor level and 100 at master’s level — and 20 teachers of the department will avail modern facilities for training and research purposes.

It is pertinent to mention here that a memorandum of understanding (MoU) has been signed between the LCWU’s department of mass communication and the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) to collaborate in research work for contributing to formulation of policies for electronic media, especially the cable system.—APP