While there is no doubt that improvements which have taken place, there are a couple of points that merit a rebuttal.
KARACHI: This is with reference to Dr Attaur Rahman’s article titled ”Advances in engineering education in Pakistan ” which appeared in your newspaper on May 18 and 19. While there is no doubt that improvements which have taken place are largely due to his efforts — one obvious example being NED University itself — there are a couple of points that merit a rebuttal.
Dr Rahman wrote that NED University lags behind in research activities when compared to other institutions. What has not been mentioned is that the Higher Education Commission (HEC) itself decided to rank universities in Pakistan. The NED University was the only one which had then pointed out that since the HEC is the funding agency for the public sector, any ranking done by it of public sector universities would appear unethical. As regards NED University lagging in research, the civil engineering department of this university alone during the last year obtained research grants from the US in excess of one million dollars.
The objective of Dr Rahman in attempting to get foreign universities to undertake engineering education in Pakistan was well-intentioned but poorly administered. First and foremost, any foreign university invited for setting up facilities in Pakistan should have been restricted to carrying out postgraduate work. An example of the HEC’s weak administration is that it took over the Pakistan Marine Academy in April 2006 but returned it to the ports and shipping division within one year because the French university with which the HEC was in contact with for a potential collaborative partner for this institution failed to live up to expectations.
Engr. Javed Aziz Khan
Registrar
NED University
Published in The Express Tribune, May 28th, 2011.
