Despite challenges phenominal growth in Higher Education in Pakistan

Despite challenges phenominal growth in Higher Education in Pakistan

As way to benchmark, we have to remind the world that there was only on 1 University in Pakista 1947 — that too was dysfunctional. There was no Phd program in 1947. Literacy rates in 1947 were 16%.

In education, literacy rates amongst adults in 2008 was 55.5%, up from 42.7% in 1998 while the same amongst youth, i.e. people aged between 15 and 24, was 71.1%, up from 55.3% in 1998. This was achieved despite a meagre 2 to 3% of GDP being spent on education per year. The worlds most massive floods and a colossal earthquake cut deep into Pakistan’s traditional growth rate of 7%. It has now recovered, but the war next door it keeping the growth down. This year the growth rate is a bit below 5%. A new government, the withdrawal of occupation forces from Afghanistan will probably dramatically change things and put Pakistan back on track. Punjab has taken some steps to replicate Aitheson College type of schools in the rural areas of Pakistan. It has also disbersed thousands of free laptops to the youth.

Despite low investment, Pakistan has shown marked improvement in certain indicators. Life expectancy has risen to over 65 years, from 62 in 1995; Fertility rates are down to 3.4 births per woman, from 5.4 in 1995; mortality rate for children under 5 years are down to 73.7 per 1,000 live births, from 109.8 in 1995.

Pakistan today has more than 1000 universities of which 128 are currently recognized by the HEC which PHD level awards. (http://www.hec.gov.pk/ourinstitutes/pages/default.aspx)

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  University of Engineering and Technology, Lahore (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

  Out of 128, 70 universities are state universities whereas rest of them are private universities but are fully recognised and the facilities they offer are equal to any state university (HEC of Pakistan gives that accreditation).

• Recently 2 Pakistani universities have made in SUNDAY TIMES QS Top 500 Universities of the world (University of Lahore and National University of Sciences).
• There are nearly 60 private institutes in main cities that offer world class degrees (such as University of London External degrees, Sunderland University & many other UK universities qualifications through affiliations).
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  NUST School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

  According to QS World Universities Rankings 2012, 6 Universities of Pakistan have won its place in the list of top 300 Universities.

• Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) UK is the world’s most renowned and prestigious ranking agency.
• National University of Science and Technology (NUST-108) Karachi University (191-200) AKU (201-250) Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) (251-300) and Lahore University (251-300) are now in top 300 Asian Universities of the World.
• Pakistani universities have produced more PhDs in the last 9 years (3280) since the establishment of HEC than in the first 55 years (3000). Research output has grown eight-folds since 2002 (from 815 in 2002 to 6,200 in 2011) which is a remarkable achievement by any world standards. 80% of these research publications are coming from HEIs.

University of Lahore (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Output has more than doubled just in the last 3 years and is expected to double again in the next 3 years. Nearly 5,000 scholars from Pakistan have been facilitated to present their research work in leading conferences of the world.

The overall ranking is as follows:

1. Quaid-e-Azam University, Islamabad
2. Pakistan Institute of Engineering and Applied Sciences
3. Aga Khan University, Karachi
4. University of Agriculture, Faisalabad
5. University of The Punjab, Lahore
6. National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST)
7. Pir Mehr Ali Shah Arid Agriculture University
8. University of Health Sciences, Lahore
9. COMSATS Institute of Information Technology (CIIT)
10. Lahore University of Management Sciences, Lahore

University Logo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The ranking are also based on categories including Agriculture/Veterinary, Art & Design, Computer Sciences & IT, Engineering & Technology, Business Education and Medical.

Agriculture/Veterinary

1. University of Agriculture, Faisalabad
2. Pir Mehr Ali Shah Arid Agriculture University, Rawalpindi
3. University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Lahore
4. KPK Agriculture University, Peshawar
5. Sindh Agriculture University, Tandojam

Art & Design

1. National College of Arts, Lahore
2. Indus Valley School of Arts and Architecture, Karachi

Computer Sciences & IT

1. COMSAT Institute of Information Tech Islamabad
2. National University of Computer and Emerging Sciences , Islamabad
3. Qurtaba University D.I.Khan
4. Balochistan University of Information Technology and Management Sciences, Quetta
5. City University, Peshawar

Engineering & Technology

1. Pakistan Institute of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Islamabad
2. National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST)
3. Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute of Engineering Sciences & Technology, Topi
4. University of Engineering and Technology, Lahore
5. University of Engineering and Technology, Taxila

Business Education

1. Lahore University of Management Sciences, Lahore
2. Institute of Business Administration, Karachi
3. Iqra University, Karachi
4. Sukkur Institute of Business Administration
5. National College of Business Administration & Economics, Lahore

Medical

1. Aga Khan University, Karachi
2. University of Health Sciences, Lahore
3. Dow University of Health Sciences, Karachi
4. Isra University, Hyderabad
5. Khyber Medical University, Peshawar

HEC RANKING CRITERIA AND WEIGHTS

Quality Assurance and Enhancement =60, Implementation status of QA criteria =18

Teaching Quality =42, Research =40, Total = 100

Hostels (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

According to the latest status report by the new head of the Higher Education Commission (HEC) “the number of PhDs awarded per year has increased to over 850 in 2011, with significantly higher standards. It is estimated that over 2400 PhDs will be awarded in 2020, which will give Pakistan the same competitive advantage in research and innovation as is available to China, India, Turkey and Malaysia.”

The number of research publications out of Pakistan has gone up by 50 percent in the last two years alone. Scimago, an independent database, has projected that Pakistan will have the second-highest growth in the Asiatic region, moving up 16 notches from the current worldwide ranking of 43 to 27.

Main entrance to the University of Engineering And Technology (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

As per the Education Policy 2008, the HEC targets to increase accessibility to higher education from the current 8 percent to 15 percent by 2020, which translates into an increase in university enrolment from 1m to 2.3m. This is a major challenge tied to the funding situation. However, to achieve the best results effectively, in addition to establishing new campuses, the HEC is focusing on the use of educational technologies and through the recently established directorates of distance education.

Faculty development programmes are the mainstay of the HEC.

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  Pakistan Navy Engineering College, PNEC is a campus of NUST and one of the best higher education institutes of Pakistan. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

  With over 7500 scholars currently pursuing their PhD degrees both within and outside the country, and an additional 2,200 having graduated and placed at universities and other organisations, it is estimated that with the projected growth in universities, at least 16,000 ‘additional’ PhD faculty will be required by 2020.

• This will raise the percentage of the PhD faculty from the current 22 percent to 40 percent.
• Simultaneously, the standards for faculty appointment will become stringent.
• Starting in 2014, all lecturer appointments will require a MPhil/MS degree, and from 2016, all assistant professors and above will require a PhD degree.
• More than six Pakistani universities are ranked among the top 300 universities of the world, while there were none a few years ago.
• By 2015, we expect at least 10 universities to be in the top 300, with one in the top 100.

Mr. Laghari adds “The World Economic Forum Global Competitiveness Report indicators on higher education and training, technology readiness and innovation are showing a consistent improvement over the last three years for Pakistan, much more than many other countries, which is clear proof that higher education reforms are paying off.”

Sindh Agriculture University, Tandojam, Hyderabad, Sindh, Pakistan (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

An additional about Rs231bn ($2.43bn) are required to ensure compulsory education to all children at the primary and secondary levels in Pakistan, as enshrined in Article 25-A of the constitution, during the next five years.

This was stated during the launch of two papers, ‘Mapping the scope of work, roles and responsibilities, capacities and resources required for implementation of Article 25-A’ and ‘Alternative financing framework and model for provinces and districts in lieu of RTE implementation’.

English: Punjab University, Lahore (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The parliament recently passed a bill to ensure implementation of Article 25-A of the constitution. The papers produced by Pakistan coalition for education suggest ways to implement the right to education law in letter and spirit.

The reports said the present level of public funding catered only to 50 percent children from five to 16 years of age. With a 58 percent literacy rate and the current level of funding, it is very difficult, if not impossible, to achieve the national objective of universal primary education by 2015 and provision of free and compulsory schooling to the children in line with Article 25-A.

To meet the deficit, 63,000 new schools are being planned in the next five years funded by the UK.

A new British aid package for Pakistan, announced by Prime Minister David Cameron in Islamabad, is worth $1,055 million over four years. The money will fund education for up to 4 million students, train 9,000 teachers, purchase 6 million new text books and build 8,000 schools by 2015, according to various media reports.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/apr/05/david-cameron-enhanced-security-dialogue-pakistan

Despite challenges phenominal growth in Higher Education in Pakistan