ISLAMABAD, July 13: The Higher Education Commission (HEC) has approved a project worth Rs20 million to expand and upgrade the department of statistics at the University of Karachi.

The project was approved at HEC's Departmental Development Working Party meeting, recently held in Islamabad, said an official statement on Tuesday. The expansion of the department was felt by the HEC because education and research in different areas of statistics determined the development process of the country, the statement said.

It said without sustained development of statistics, the uplift strategies could not be framed. Modern day research, administration, policy decision and planning cannot be thought about without statistics, it added.

In order to train young statisticians commensurate to modern requirement, expansion in the statistics department's infrastructure was urgently needed. After upgradation, the department will offer international level facilities to students and the faculty to pursue higher research.

Besides providing trained manpower in the form of B.Sc, M.Sc, M.Phil and Ph.D degree holders, the department envisages to undertake theoretical and applied research on national problems.

The major objectives of the scheme include enhancement in the number of students. At present, the department has a strength of about 1,256 students, and it intends to increase the number to 1,500.

Secondly, in order to increase quality of knowledge of the students, the department will be able to create facilities of two computer laboratories and a seminar library.

Through the scheme, interactive research with industry and other organizations will be initiated, and training of manpower from colleges and other universities be undertaken through refresher courses, seminars and workshops.

It is hopped that the scheme will not only be helpful in increasing the number of students, but more qualified manpower will also be produced. Goal-oriented research will be initiated, which will directly contribute to economic development of Pakistan. It will also create jobs for qualified people and give earning opportunities to skilled manpower through economic activities.