PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa higher education department has decided to discontinue certain programmes in government colleges due to low enrolments.
An official told media that the higher education department had identified 39 disciplines, taught in 35 government colleges across the province, for discontinuation, while the rest of the subjects would remain unaffected.
“The courses with five or six enrolled students will be closed down,” he said.
The official said it was actually tantamount to the “misuse of government resources” to continue with programmes with low enrolments, while the students were reluctant to take admissions in such subjects as they didn’t have any “value” in the job market.
Official says ‘market-oriented’ subjects to be introduced
He rejected media reports about the plans to discontinue the Bachelor of Studies (BS) programme in government colleges.
The official, however, said that the department had closed down BS (Pashto) programme at Abbottabad’s Government Postgraduate College No 1, BS (Political Science) at Abbottabad’s Government Postgraduate College for Women and BS (Islmiat) at Abbottabad’s Qalandabad Government Postgraduate College.
He said the same was the case with other districts.
“After the closure of such programmes, we’ll introduce market-oriented subjects in government colleges,” he said.
The HED has also decided to introduce an associate degree programme in a couple of disciplines, replacing the BS degree programme in 128 colleges of the province.
The official told media that an associate degree programme has been introduced in those disciplines where enrolment had decreased with the passage of time. Under the associate degree programme, the students can continue their education by taking admission in the fifth semester of the BS programme.
“In fact the course of the BS programme has been split and named as an associate degree programme,” he said.
The official said the associate degree programme was equal to the BA/BSc degrees and the holders of associate degree programmes could get jobs with it.
He said that the associate degree programme was already functioning in the government colleges located in the rural and far off areas of the province.
One of the professors of a government degree college criticised HED for taking “ill-planned” decisions regarding new subjects and degree programmes.
“The department extended the BS programme to all government colleges without ensuring required faculty and facilities,” he said.
A notification read that the directorate of HED had undertaken a comprehensive review of the Bachelor of Science (BS) and Associate Degree (AD) programmes currently offered in the government colleges to assess existing resources and align future academic offerings with strategic needs.
It added that the review identified several critical challenges, including high dropout rates and low student enrollment in certain BS programmes.
According to the notification, it has been observed that a significant number of BS disciplines, often with limited market relevance, are consuming a disproportionate share of resources. This has constrained the department’s ability to introduce new, market-aligned programmes that better serve the students’ interests.
“To optimise resource utilisation and create a more conducive and relevant academic environment, a dedicated BS Committee was constituted by the department. The committee has thoroughly reviewed the existing BS programme currently offerings, with a specific focus on creating space for market aligned disciplines.Based on the committee’s recommendations, which have been duly approved by the competent authority, it had been decided to close the selected BS programmes with immediate effect,” read the notification.
It added that selected colleges would fully or partially transition from BS programmes to Associate Degree programmes.
The notification said those colleges would initiate subject-based Associate Degree programmes after formal permission from the department.
“This strategic shift is designed to strengthen the academic foundation of our colleges and ensure the efficient and effective use of departmental resources, hence, shall be implemented in true spirit,” it said.
The notification added that BS colleges were allowed to initiate BS admissions through online portal specifically in the approved subjects.
Published in media, September 4th, 2025
American Dollar Exchange Rate