Punjab plans to transfer 76 commerce colleges to public universities. The Punjab Higher Education Department (HED) has proposed a major restructuring. The commerce education by planning to hand over around 76 public sector commerce colleges across province to 17 public sector universities. The Punjab government has announced a plan to transfer 76 commerce colleges across the province to public sector universities. Aiming to improve the quality of higher education and streamline academic administration.
Earlier, Provincial Minister for Higher and School Education Rana Sikandar Hayat announced the move. In a video message shared on social media. He said the government would outsource public sector commerce colleges and around 50 general colleges with low enrolment. In a letter issued on December 18. The vice chancellors were asked to submit detailed feasibility reports for an initial period of one year.
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The universities assigned to prepare the reports include the University of the Punjab, Government College University Lahore, Government College University Faisalabad, University of Sargodha, Islamia University Bahawalpur, Bahauddin Zakariya University Multan, Fatima Jinnah Women University Rawalpindi, University of Gujrat, University of Sahiwal, University of Kamalia, University of Rasul Mandi Bahauddin, Government College Women University Sialkot, Ghazi University Dera Ghazi Khan, Khawaja Fareed University of Engineering and Information Technology Rahim Yar Khan, Thal University Bhakkar, Information Technology University, and UET Taxila.
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This decision follows earlier steps taken in 2024, when the HED merged all commerce colleges into general colleges. This includes eight women’s commerce colleges. Which were merge into nearby women’s general colleges. Districts affected by this merger included Lahore, Multan, Faisalabad, Bahawalpur, Dera Ghazi Khan, Muzaffargarh, Khanewal, Chiniot, Sialkot, Narowal, and Rajanpur. Previously, the merger affected more than 400 teachers and thousands of students, who were later shifte to general education colleges.
Sources say the decision is part of broader reforms in the higher education sector, focusing on improving learning outcomes and aligning commerce education with modern market and industry needs. The transfer may also help students gain better access to university-level resources, research opportunities, and standardized assessment systems.