LAHORE Many girl students could not enroll in degree classes in four newly-established degree colleges in the Punjab as the Education Department failed to hire teachers, TheNation has reliably learnt. For the students, the department failure was alike to a cricketer being bowled out at 99. Earlier, the Higher Education Department was all set to commence the academic activities at these women colleges on August 15, sources told this paper on Saturday. Three of the new colleges are for Lahore while the fourth one will work in Chakwal, the PHEP officials further said. The plan for these women degree colleges was earlier approved in the Annual Development Programme 2008 of the provincial government. The officials said that the construction work on the new sites, including Government Degree College for Murghazar Colony, Government Degree College for Women Kahna Nau, Government Shalimar Degree College for Women, and Government Degree College for Women (Chakwal), has been completed and the administrative staff hired. The provincial Education Department, they added, had planned to start the academic activities in the new colleges from August 15, but owing to delay in the posting of teachers, the admissions for the first classes could not be started. Insiders, however, told this scribe that it was duo to the lack of interest of the Education Department that the admissions and classes could not commence. They said 25 staffers including 11 faculty members and 14 administrative and clerical staff had been posted in each college, while the principals would be appointed very soon. Currently, the charge of the principals slots has been assigned to principals of other colleges. This has been done to run the affairs of these colleges smoothly, the sources said. Talking about the appointments of the lecturers, they claimed that a strict and on-merit policy was followed so that the best educational environment could be provided to the students. The courses being offered at the new campuses would be FSc (Pre-medical and Pre-engineering), FA, and BA, they added. They, however, did not mention the FSc. The officials further informed that a huge sum of Rs 60 million was spent on the establishment of each of the colleges that is Rs 240 million in aggregate.