ISLAMABAD, March 6: The Higher Education Commission has decided to establish a Rs35 million centre at Bahauddin Zakariya University (BZU), Multan, to upgrade undergraduate programmes with special focus on basic sciences , says an official statement.

The main objectives of the project include bringing Pakistan's bachelor degree on a par with those of international universities and to fulfil the requirements for acceptance of the local bachelor degree at international level. The project also aims at meeting the international standards and credit hours transfer requirements of local degrees.

The project will also help provide an appropriate teaching/learning environment to students especially belonging to southern areas of the Punjab where teaching facilities for undergraduate courses in degree colleges are not up to the mark.

The statement said the scheme would not only enable the university to produce scientists in the disciplines of physics, chemistry, and biology, but also generate linkages between the local and foreign institutions, encouraging sustainable scientific collaborations.

In the long-term, the goal is to upgrade the graduate programmes in national educational institutions and bring these on a par with the international standards.

The students after introduction of the four-year BSc programme will be eligible for admission to MSc degree programme of a minimum one-year duration in their respective disciplines.

The new BSc programme cover the existing BSc and MSc courses recommended by the Higher Education Commission's National Curriculum Revision Committee and was modernized by including the advanced courses of renowned international universities.