PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Directorate of Prisons and department of criminology, University of Peshawar, have signed a memorandum of understanding to open avenues for student internships within the prison system, foster research facilitation and introduce accredited courses that may be utilised as promotional qualifications for prison and law enforcement officials in future.

UoP vice-chancellor Prof Johar Ali, Inspector General of Prisons Mohammad Usman Mehsud, and chairman of the department of criminology Prof Basharat Hussain were present on the occasion.

Prof Basharat said the department of criminology planned to initiate MPhil and PhD programmes in the upcoming fall semester.

IGP prisons Usman Mehsud emphasised that the MoU reflected a shared vision and had been designed to serve both academic growth and administrative excellence.

He underscored the critical importance of cooperation between academia and public institutions in order to improve systems and create long-term, sustainable impact.

He proposed the formulation of standard operating procedures for effective implementation of the MoU. He also suggested the inclusion of online lectures by faculty for the staff of the Haripur Prison Staff Training Academy, engagement of prison staff in events organised by the department of criminology, and the regular sharing of student-led research findings and recommendations with the KP prisons department.

Dr Johar Ali endorsed the idea of making the proposed accredited courses a requirement for the promotion of executive officers in the prisons department.

Prof Basharat explained that the MoU includes not only accredited courses but also provisions for curriculum revisions at prison training schools, to be reviewed by a committee.

Published in Dawn, June 21st, 2025