PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has informed the federal government that the establishment of a university in Upper Chitral district is not feasible, so funds should be earmarked to upgrade the University of Chitral in the adjoining Lower Chitral district.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had announced the establishment of a university in Upper Chitral during a visit to the district on Oct 31.
During a formal communication between the federal and provincial governments in light of the prime minister’s announcement regarding the establishment of the university in Upper Chitral, both governments have agreed to establish a sub-campus of University of Chitral in Upper Chitral instead of setting up a separate university.
Officials at the higher education department told media that both governments had decided to start a feasibility study for the establishment of the sub-campus.
Proposes allocation of funds to upgrade existing university in Lower Chitral
Earlier, the provincial government informed the federal government that there were currently 34 public sector universities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, including five newly established during the last five years.
“The rapid expansion of the public sector universities coupled with stagnant federal grants over the last five years, has led to severe financial constraints,” reveal official documents.
They also noted that the establishment of new universities had adversely impacted the student enrolment in the existing universities, which constituted a major source of their revenue.
Officials at the HED told media that the University of Chitral was just a two-hour distance from Upper Chitral and strategically located to serve both districts efficiently.
They said that currently, only 1600 students were enrolled at the University of Chitral and they belonged to both districts of the Chitral region.
The officials said that the students were enrolled in 23 academic programmes, including 13 BS and 10 MPhil, with 26 PhD and 38 non-PhD regular members serving.
“Instead of establishing a new university, the high-impact, cost-effective interventions are proposed to achieve the prime minister’s vision of quality higher education in Chitral, including construction of administration block, girls students hostel, two faculty hostels, central library, multipurpose hall, guest house, associated lab, furniture and external development,” an official said.
He said the provincial government had also demanded Rs1 billion to ensure long-term financial stability and support of BS-allied health sciences, modern artificial intelligence laboratories and a guesthouse for the hotel and tourism department.
The official also said the provincial government had suggested restoring and increasing the HEC recurring grant to cover faculty salaries, research and operational deficits.
The officials said the leading University of Peshawar in the current admission session had closed nine programmes over low admissions in the respective Bachelor of Studies (BS) programmes from the current semester, fall 2025.
They said those BS programmes included development studies, geography, geology, history, social anthropology, statistics, logistics and supply chain analytics, human development and family studies and home economics.
Recently, a debate began when the provincial government decided to work on a plan to establish two more universities in the province.
Currently, KP, with a population over 40 million, has 34 government universities. However, Punjab has the same number of public universities for its 127 million population, which is three times more than KP’s.
KP Chief Minister Sohail Afridi recently directed the higher education department to work on the proposal of establishing the Arshad Sharif University in the province as well as another varsity in his native Khyber tribal district.
The directives generated a debate among academia and the higher education department about the need for more universities, with experts calling for strengthening the existing varisities, which are strapped for cash.
Officials at the higher education department told media that five oldest universities in the province, including University of Peshawar, University of Engineering and Technology Peshawar, Agriculture University Peshawar, Islamia College University Peshawar and Gomal University Dera Ismail Khan, were unable to pay salaries to their employees and pension to former staff members.
They said that the University of Engineering and Applied Sciences Swat had 184 students enrolled in several BS programmes and 24 in MS courses but regular faculty members totaled five, including an assistant professor and four lecturers.
The officials also said student enrolment was 210 at University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences Swat, 353 at University of Agriculture Swat, 515 at University of Technology Nowshera, 744 at University of Fata, 1,600 at University of Chitral, 1,260 at University of Lakki Marwat and 1,800 at Khushal Khan Khattak University Karak.
They said some major universities repeatedly advertised admission programmes lately to use the required student quota amid the students’ lack of interestin enrolment.
Published in media, December 27th, 2025
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