University of Malakand

The 'University of Malakand' (Urdu: یونیورسٹی آف ملاکنڈ‎); abbreviated as 'UOM'), is a public university located in the banks of the Swat river and the rural area of Lower Dir district of the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.

Founded in 2001, the university offers undergraduate, post-graduate and doctoral programmes in various academic disciplines. As of 2010, the university secured its place at the general category and ranked "seventh" by the HEC.

History and background

The need for a University in Malakand Division has been a felt since 1972, but due to political polarizations between different political parties, the idea could not be materialized until 2001.

After the announcement some legal points were raised by the provincial law department regarding establishing a university in the Provincially Administered Tribal Area under Article 247 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, a very old impediment in opening a University in the area since 1973.

The issue was resolved by the President of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan who permitted the university through a Presidential Regulation. Hence, in a sense this is the only university in Pakistan chartered by the highest seats of power in the country, the President of Islamic Republic of Pakistan and the Governor of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.