The University of Peshawar (UoP) Syndicate has approved the merger of 20 departments because of low student enrollment in their academic programs. The Syndicate meeting, chaired by Vice Chancellor Prof. Johar Ali, endorsed the proposed mergers. The university Senate will give the final approval. The university will merge the Department of Plant Biodiversity with Botany and create the Institute of Botany and Plant Biodiversity. It will also merge Urban and Regional Planning with Geography and Geomatics.

The university will merge the Department of Plant Biodiversity with Botany and create the Institute of Botany and Plant Biodiversity. It will also merge Urban and Regional Planning with Geography and Geomatics.

Other planned mergers include Persian with Urdu, Sociology with Gender Studies and Social Anthropology, Pashto Academy with Pashto, and Seerat with Islamiat. The university will also combine Regional Studies, International Relations, History and Philosophy into one academic unit.

The university will transfer BS Human Nutrition and Dietetics and BS Public Health from the College of Home Economics to the Institute of Health Sciences. It will also consolidate BS Fashion Design, BS Interior Design and BS Arts and Design under one academic unit.

University sources said the move followed a review of enrollment, faculty to student ratios, salary costs and program viability. The review aimed to reduce the financial burden on the cash strapped university.

UoP spokesperson Numan Jan said the university would continue offering more than 70 BS programs. He added that the university would adjust faculty members according to workload and the new academic structure.

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