ISLAMABAD, July 14: The Higher Education Commission (HEC) has approved a project worth Rs24 million for University of Sargodha under which four-year BS, MPhil and PhD programmes will be started from the fall of 2005, an official statement said. The HEC will provide funds for construction of building of 15,656 sq ft to cope with the educational needs. About 100 students in BS, 20 MS/MPhil students and five PhDs (from existing faculty) will be admitted. This number will gradually increase within a span of four years to over 400.

The university will also have computer and library facilities to strengthen teaching and research programmes. These programmes will be initiated under semester system in the discipline of economics.

The MS/MPhil students will be selected from the ensuing bachelor programme and from other institutions on competitive basis.

A placement exam will be administered to select students on merit basis. The BS degree so earned by the students after 16 years of schooling will be in line with the universally-accepted standards of higher education and will fulfil the requirements of its international recognition and compatibility.

The students having earned BS degree will be eligible for admission to the MS/MPhil programme as per international practice. The curricula will be broad-based with emphasis on general education, integrated with other disciplines of social sciences in order to meet the challenges of the 21st century in the economics profession.

The project will create linkages with national and international institutions and cultivate long-term sustainable scientific collaborations.

The goal is in line with the HEC vision of building graduate programmes in the national educational institutions commensurate with international standards.

It is expected that population of central Punjab will be a direct beneficiary of the project. The university will adopt universally accepted format of higher education in the discipline of economics and allied social sciences in this regard.