PESHAWAR, Nov 20: NWFP Governor Ali Mohammad Jan Aurakzai is likely to promulgate an ordinance on Dec 1 to grant the Islamia College Peshawar (ICP) the status of a university.

The ordinance would be promulgated at the eighth annual general body meeting of the association of senior alumni, said a senior official.

In May, the NWFP assembly had unanimously passed a resolution calling for upgrading the college to the university level. That was followed by preparation of a draft law which was sent to the government after vetting by the law department officials.

Established by Sir Sahibzada Abdul Qayyum Khan in 1913, more than 80,000 students have so far graduated from the college. Renowned freedom fighter Haji Sahib Turangzai had inaugurated the college on Sahibzada Qayyum’s request.

It was the establishment of the Islamia College that paved the way for setting up the University of Peshawar — the first university in the province — in the early 1950s.

Recently, the college started a separate girls’ section. At present, the college has 3,000 students and 150 teachers, 40 per cent of whom hold PhD degrees.

During the general body meeting scheduled for Dec 1, the alumni association would grant scholarship of 175 students, each getting a stipend of Rs6,000.

Sources said it would be a unique university which would offer education facilities to students from class 1 to PhD level. They added that Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah, who had visited the college in 1936, 1946 and 1948, had donated one-third of his property to the college.