Department of Environmental Sciences

GOVERNMENT OF PAKISTAN
PLANNING COMMISSION
PC-1 FORM
(SOCIAL SECTORS)

1. Name of the Project : Strengthening & Capacity Building of Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Peshawar

2. Location: University of Peshawar , N.W.F.P. Pakistan

3. Authority responsible for:

4. Plan Provision: The project is not included in the medium term/five year plan. However, keeping in view the objectives of the Government of Pakistan for strengthening the educational institutions to not only to increase the student enrollment but also improve the quality of education and research in institutions of higher education in Pakistan, this proposal aims at achieving both objectives through upgrading the existing facilities. The Higher Education Commission has committed itself to sponsor such development projects that are related with the improvement of Academic Infrastructure in universities. This proposal is submitted for consideration and approval of the HEC, to be financed through the HEC’s Block Provision. The total estimatedexpenditure cost of this proposed project is Rs. 39.50 million.

5. Project objectives and its relationship with Sectoral objectives: OBJECTIVES:

The project is designed to achieve the following objectives.

1. Re-structuring the existing Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Peshawar, in line with modern trends and technology so as to provide improved facilities for quality teaching and research.

2.Strengthening the research & development work through acquiring modern field and laboratory instruments for enhancing the capacity of research & development activities of the faculty and students at undergraduate and postgraduate levels.

3.Strengthening and carrier development of the faculty through hiring of new faculty members and providing training and interaction/exposure opportunities to the existing faculty staff at the national and international level.

Relationship with Sectoral Objectives:

The objectives of our existing education policy lay down great emphasis on providing scientific and technological education to the youth of the country in general and improve accessibility for the target group of under 30-year age in particular. Environmental education is an integral part of not only our health, hygiene and aesthetics related issues but it has been introduced in the planning and development of the country through Environmental Assessment Process. Therefore we strongly believe that promotion of quality education will not only help attract most talented students to this discipline but also develop andstrengthening the Faculty of Environmental Sciences to such an extent that it would contribute significantly towards environment protection and conservation of natural resources in the country. On completion of the project, Department of Environmental Sciences, the oldest institution of its kind in the country, shall become a hub for latest environmental education and research in NWFP to produce skilled and trained manpower for supplementing the overall efforts of national govt. for environmental protection, conservation & sustainable development, which are objectives of our social sector policies.

6. Description, justification and technical parameters :

DESCRIPTION OF PROJECT:

To achieve the above mentioned objectives, the following restructuring program and new initiatives will be introduced.

Construction of Additional Building.

The existing infrastructure which is about twenty years old now and is not suitable additional construction, Therefore construction of a new building is urgently needed in view of expansion and diversification of our academic programs already implemented. We need to construct additional building/Civil Work comprising of 6 classrooms, 6 Spacious Labs for Analytical work, 2 Labs for GIS/Remote sensing, Library, Examination Hall, Chemical Store, Conference Room, Girls Common Room, Boys Common Room, Wash Rooms for Girls and Boys, Students Society Office, Chairman and Ministerial Staff Offices and 12 faculty offices

Strengthening the R & D Facilities :

The department has the following existing laboratory and field equipment in working order:

Gas Chromatograph, Ion Chromatograph, FTIR, Flame photometer, Weather station, Water distillation unit, Pesticide analyzer, Air pollution monitors, Ultra sonic bath, Centrifuge, Oven, Incubator, Sieve set, Toxic gas monitors, Noisemeters, GPS, pH meter, Turbidity meter, Conductivity meter, Water quality checker. However these equipments hardly meet the R&D activities of the M.Sc students and there is a need to further strengthen the laboratory and equipment facilities for practical and applied environmental research for M.Phil/Ph.D students and Faculty Staff. Through this proposed project we intend to procure state-of-the art laboratory and field research equipment to start R&D activities on issues of national and international importance which will contribute to the overall goals of enhancing quality education/research and provide realistic and authentic data for addressing the national environmental problems. The details of Laboratory and field research equipments to be procured under these projects are given in Annex-II

Strengthening and Capacity Building of Faculty:

The strength of permanent faculty stands at 9, including three Ph.Ds and three M.Phil teachers. Out of these nine permanent teachers, three are currently abroad pursuing their Ph.D studies at different stages, while another female lecturer has just been awarded Commonwealth scholarship for taking up her Ph.D studies in New Zealand. We have two lecturers working on engagement basis andeight to ten part-time teachers are engaged from other relevant departments to teach supporting course at undergraduate level. However with all these efforts the faculty members are tightly engaged in teaching and find no time for research and field work activities. As a result the research students particularly M.Phil/Ph.D students are serious suffering because of little supervision and guidance input from the overloaded faculty staff. Hence there is a serious need to cover up the gaps and shortfall through hiring of new faculty positions for teaching purpose to undergraduate and postgraduate students so that senior faculty members have sufficient time for doing and supervision of research and development activities.

Secondly the existing faculty staff needs to be exposed to new concepts andupdated R&D knowledge to broader their vision and understanding compatible with the national and international standards to produce quality products in line with the market demands. This will be done through participation in short term training/seminars/workshops opportunities to the existing faculty staff at the national and international universities and R&D institutions.

Strengthening library & other infrastructure facilities:

There is a small seminar library of the Department which houses about 2400 text and reference books, however, no research journal are subscribed to. The very diverse nature of environmental sciences coupled with diversity of programs necessitate a much larger number of books including multiple copies of some hemain texts. Based on recommendations of the faculty it is proposed that a upto-dated published books, journals and other reading materials should be provided for the faculty and students in order to impart quality education and knowledge to the students community in the field of Environmental Sciences.

Moreover the Department of Environmental Sciences has extreme shortage of Office furniture and equipments to cater the increasing demand of faculty members and R&D students. The department has 30 P-IV computers, 8 laser printers, three A4 size scanners, one plotter, three A0 size and 10 A3 digitizers. Most of these computers are housed in the GIS laboratory and used for teaching and demonstration purposes for the BES and M.Sc Students. Due to increase inthe number of faculty staff and increased office work load more office equipment and related infrastructure facilities are required to enhance the capacity and efficiency of the staff as well as office management and record keeping. The office equipments and computer related items required under this project are given in Annex-III.

JUSTIFICATION OF PROJECT:

The Department of Geography, University of Peshawar, had initiated a two-year Masters Degree program in Environmental Planning and Management in 1987 to cater the need of the province for trained manpower in the field of Environmental education. Subsequently that initiative was organized into a eparatedepartmentestablished for the purpose under the name of Department of Environmental Planning and Management, University of Peshawar. The new department was shifted to the premises constructed earlier for the Centre for Applied Economic Studies (CAPES) where it is housed to date with minimal infrastructure facilities. Before 2001 the student body comprising both the Previous and Final year students of the DEPM used to be about 40 and the faculty strength was only six members.

In 2001 the Department of Environmental Planning & Management was renamed as Department of Environmental Sciences with double intake of students at M.Sc Previous level. Besides, new initiatives were taken by way of starting 4-years dergraduate, M.Phil/Ph.D and post-graduate diploma programs for mid-career professionals. During the academic sessions 2004-06 we have been inducting 100 students each at M.Sc and B.E.S. levels. As such student enrollment has been increased tenfold since 2001 while the teaching and research infrastructure facilities remained the same.

Therefore there is an urgent need to strengthen and upgrade the necessary teaching, research and other academic infrastructure facilities at the Department of Environmental Sciences in line with existing education policy for providing scientific and technological education to the youth of the country.

7. Capital Cost Estimates: The total estimated capital costs of the proposed roject are Pak. Rs. 39.50 million. Abstract of capital cost investment is given at Annex-I

8. Annual operating and The annual operation & maintenance costs of

maintenance cost after laboratory equipments will be born by the

Completion of the project: Department from its own resources and annual budget allocation provided through the University of Peshawar. Therefore, no O&M costs will be required from the project fund during and after completion of the project.

9. Demand and supply analysis: As mentioned above, the student enrollment in the Faculty of Environmental Sciences has increased tenfold since 2001 whichdirectly reflect the market demands for Environmental Graduates. However to ensure the outgoing graduates meets the environmental challenges facing the country and to provide quality graduate and scholars to the market, the existing infrastructure research and academic facilities needs to be upgraded with state of the art scientific equipments and teaching facilities.

Moreover, the Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Peshawar as a unique institution in the public sector in the NWFP which is providing environmental education facilities for the whole province. With the introduction of Environmental Education in Curricula of the School and Colleges by the Ministry of Education will put an additional pressure in future for providing qualitygraduates in this field to cater for the growing market demands in the days ahead.

The strengthening and capacity enhancement of this department will certainly cater for the

Increased market demands for Environmental Scientists and Graduates.

10. Financial Plan and Mode of financing: Sponsoring Agency . The proposed project will be financed by the Federal Govt. through the Higher Education Commission (HEC) out of block provision during the CFY 2006-07. Other Sources: Nil

11. Project benefits and analysis

i. Financial: The proposed project is basically aimed to enhance the quality of education and research in an Academic institution and therefore may not produce any direct financial benefit to the public. However with improvement in the quality of education and research will produce quality scientists/researcher which will have overall positive impact on the national productivity and growth of the economy.

ii. Social benefits with The proposed project is expected to increase the Indicators number of students enrollment in the department of Environmental ience with improved standard of education and research facilities and hence will fulfill one of the basic social needs for having access to quality education in NWFP. Moreover the department endeavors to provide environmental education to the students will definitely bring a positive social change in the attitude and behaviors of the peoples of NWFP in particular and Pakistan in general.

The major social indicators for measuring the benefits of the proposed project is the %age increase in the number of student enrollment in Postgraduate programs like M.Sc, M.Phil/Ph.D or the increase in per annum production of M.Sc/M.Phil/Ph.D students from the department.

iii. Employment generation: This project will generate direct employment orthe talented environmental science graduate and other disciplines through hiring of new part time faculty for graduate and postgraduate classes. Also it is expected that improvement in the standard and quality of education at the department will definitely increase the chances of better employment opportunities in the market for the outgoing environmental graduates and scholars.

iv. Environmental impact: The project will have positive impact on the overall environment as the outgoing environmental graduates will act as advocates for protection of environment, rising of awareness among the public. The increase in the number of environmental graduates and scholars will definitely play an fective role in changing the attitudes and behavior of the masses and society as a whole towards environment conservation and protection.

v. Impact of delays on The project estimation has been done on the basis project cost & viability: of prevailing market prices. However delays if any may increase the viability of the project costs particularly analytical equipment because of increased market prices and inflation of Rupees against international currencies. Therefore the project shall be implemented according to schedule wherein the price fluctuation if any has already been taken care off. 12. Implementation schedule: The project will be completed in a period of two years i.e. 24 months. If approved, detail work plan will be prepared and work on the project will begin in July 2007 and finish by June 2009.

b) Manpower requirement: For execution of the project new faculty staff will be hired and or engaged as per the university procedures from the open market to fill up the gaps and shortage of teaching cadre positions for undergraduate and postgraduate classes for a period of two years.

14. Additional decisions required Not Applicable. to maximize socio- economic benefits.

15. Certificate: Certified that the project proposal has been prepared as per instructions of the Planning Commission regarding preparation of PC-1 for Social Sector projects.

Prepared by:

Dr. Hizbullah Khan
Lecturer
Department of Environmental Sciences
University of Peshawar
Phone: 091-9216742
Checked by: Prof. Dr. Saeed-ur-Rehman
Department of Environmental Sciences
University of Peshawar Phone: 091-9216742

Approved by:

Prof. Dr. Haroon Rashid,
Vice Chancellor,
University of Peshawar

2. Abstract of Estimated Costs of Project.