The Punjab government has decided to reorganise 76 commerce colleges across the province, according to reports on Friday.
This initiative is part of a wider trend of moving public colleges under universities or private management.
Which Punjab colleges are being shut down
According to the Higher Education Department (HED), 27 colleges will become campuses of public universities in the provinces.
The government will also give 25 colleges to the private sector to improve how they are run.
Approximately 19,000 students will be affected as a result of this decision. They will be shifted to other general colleges to complete their studies.
The department has further said that all teaching and non-teaching staff will be adjusted to other institutions.
The plan is now waiting for final approval from the Chief Minister (CM) of Punjab, Maryam Nawaz.
The government says the goal is to modernise these colleges, but it is a major change for commerce education in cities like Lahore, Multan, and Faisalabad.
Punjab announces 460 scholarships
In addition to this, the Punjab government announced 460 scholarships for students from the Balochistan province recently.
The aim is to help deserving students get a better education and improve learning opportunities.
Officials said the Punjab Education Endowment Fund will handle the application process.
Students from poor and disadvantaged backgrounds have been urged to apply through the official program.
In addition to this, recently, CM Punjab announced new steps to improve education across the province.
The decisions were taken on Saturday. She also approved transport support and increased scholarships for students.
She chaired a meeting previously to review ongoing projects of the School Education Department and the Higher Education Department.
Maryam Nawaz also approved the establishment of modern IT labs in 166 government colleges.
She also directed the officials to provide laptops to minority students on merit.
She also approved scholarships for visually impaired and other special-needs students in the next phase.
