Rs8 billion engineering varsity to be set up in Swat.

PESHAWAR -- The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has approved a plan for establishment of Swat University of Engineering and Technology within three years at a cost of Rs8 billion.

The varsity is being set up to produce market-oriented graduates. The state-run universities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are financially dependent on the government and fee collected from students. However, the new university in Swat would be self-sustainable, according to official documents.

The documents reveal that triple helix model would be applied on the university by connecting government, industry and academic with each other.

Project director says it will be the first self-sustainable university of KP

'Swat University of Engineering and Technology is envisioned to be a self-sustainable university exercising entrepreneurial initiatives to overcome constraints, adapt to changing conditions and thrive in future,' Dr Najeebullah, the project manager of the university, told Dawn.

He said that the new university would offer degree programmes that were benchmarked against international standards and by implementing international practices for curricula design and teaching.

Dr Najeebullah, who has done PhD from University of Cambridge, UK in material sciences, said that from day one the university would explore all auxiliary enterprises for its self-sustainability. 'We will focus on building technical, management and outreach capacity of SUET and strengthening its coordination with Higher Education Commission, industry and government stakeholders besides international partners,' he said.

The project manager said market-driven curricular programmes were planned for all the disciplines to be taught in the university. He added that curricula and extra-curricular programmes would be developed with the support of international partners and public and private sector stakeholders.

He said that the university would also develop teaching and research laboratories with the help of international partners to align the curriculum as per national and international needs.

Dr Najeebullah said that the university would help in promoting knowledge-based economy. He added that the research products and graduates would support shift of economy towards technology-oriented business to sustain strength of the established industries.

The project director said that a key organisational development feature of SUET was to build international relationships for translating its vision into action...