SAHIWAL: The Higher Education Department (HED) has launched a plan to convert tehsil-based public sector colleges into “Colleges of Eminence” (COM) across Punjab.

Punjab’s 41 districts comprise more than 150 tehsils, and one college from each tehsil will be selected for conversion.

In a recent letter dated May 1, 2026, the HED directed the Director Public Instructions (DPI) Colleges, Lahore, to prepare a list of such colleges through divisional directorates within seven days.

Rana Sikander, Minister for Higher Education, told Dawn the government is upgrading public sector colleges in order to improve quality of education.

One college from each tehsil will get ‘College of Eminence’ title

Prof Dr Ansar Azhar, DPI Colleges, Lahore, confirmed the process of selecting and declaring these colleges as COM is underway.

The HED has outlined 10 features for evaluation, including academic reputation, faculty quality, student outcomes, research and innovation, infrastructure and facilities, industry linkages, global exposure, governance and leadership, extracurricular excellence, and social impact with community engagement.

Prof Abid Raza, Senior Vice President of PPLA and faculty member at Government Graduate College, Sahiwal, remarked that hardly any tehsil-level public college currently meets all 10 standards.

Responding to this concern, Prof Ansar explained that the framework allows selection even if colleges meet only a minimum criteria. “After identifying COM in each tehsil, the HED will allocate financial and technical resources in future to help them achieve full compliance by fulfilling remaining features,” he said.

He clarified the initiative does not involve privatisation or public-private partnerships, clarifying that the department’s sole aim is to strengthen public sector colleges by providing necessary funding and support to raise them to the level of Colleges of Eminence.

Published in Dawn, May 4th, 2026