Edwardes College was the first university college in the Northwest Frontier Province
of Pakistan. It was founded in 1900 first as a high school in Peshawar named after
Sir Herbert Edwardes, becoming a college affiliated to the University of the Punjab.
Following partition, for geographical reasons it became part of the University
of Peshawar when it was inaugurated in 1952.
Edwardes College is co-educational and was one of the first colleges in Pakistan
to admit women. There are currently 200 women students among a college student
population of just under 2,000, and 10 women lecturers. It is anticipated that
these numbers will increase.
The present site of the college campus is located in an attractive part of
the city within easy reach of the provincial museum and archives, the railway
station, the airport and various other colleges. The main university site is
some distance away. The college possesses both a mosque and a Christian chapel.
The college remains a Christian foundation (United Church of Pakistan). Unlike
many other university colleges it did not succumb to the nationalization process
of the 1970s. Its ethos has been well summed up by an early principal, the Rev
R. H. Noble as follows;
“We are people of different countries, faiths and races living in harmony
and friendship. We work together and try to learn the secret of fellowship and
peace. We hope our lives may be more useful and this sprit of helpfulness will
enrich the province in which we live to the greater glory of God"