ISLAMABAD, Oct 24: The Government of Punjab will soon establish a campus of Fatima Jinnah Women University (FJWU) in Sialkot, as campuses of other universities have already been established in different cities for promotion of education.

This was stated by Governor Punjab Lt-Gen (retd) Khalid Maqbool on Wednesday while addressing the 7th convocation of FJWU here at the Convention Centre.

In the convocation 654 students, 566 of masters programmes and 88 of undergraduate programmes, of 2005-2007 session were awarded degrees. Top position holders in different subjects were also awarded gold and silver medals.

The governor said that extra land had been allotted to all the universities in the province for their expansion in order to meet the educational requirements of the province in the next 10 years.

“The provincial government will establish an FJWU campus in Sialkot soon, while campuses of the University of Engineering and Technology Lahore have already been set up in Rachna, Gujranwala and Faisalabad,” the governor stated.

Governor Maqbool said that the provincial government and the HEC had provided Rs300 million and Rs500 million to FJWU respectively. Furthermore, he added, funds were allocated to four departments of FJWU under the initiative of “Strengthening of the existing departments”.

“The Department of Communication Sciences of FJWU will have a modern radio station and television studios with all the facilities,” he said.

While addressing the convocation, HEC Chairman Prof Dr Attaur Rehman said that HEC was sending 1,000 students abroad every year for higher education and added that this process would transform the status of higher education in Pakistan.

In her keynote speech, Prof Dr Diana Leonard, professor emeritus at Graduate School of Education in the University of London, said that universities should increase their research output, especially in the areas of science and information technology, to make it commercially relevant so as to increase their contribution to national growth. But this trend should not sideline arts and humanities, which were the main areas of women’s interest.