Six Punjab varsities emerge in top ranking

No education institution from Sindh or Balochistan made the cut

LAHORE: Six out of 10 Pakistani universities, which made it to Times Higher Education (THE) Emerging Economies University Rankings 2018, were from Punjab.

Universities from Islamabad topped the list, while a single varsity from Khyber-Pakhtunkhawa (K-P) was also one of the contenders. However, not a single higher education institution from either Sindh or Balochistan made the list.

From Punjab, the University of Agriculture, the University of Lahore, Pir Mehr Ali Shah Arid Agriculture University, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Government College University and the University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences made the list.



Talking to The Express Tribune, former higher education commission (HEC) chairperson Dr Attaur Rehman termed the performance of Pakistani Higher Education Institutions as abysmal.

“We were looking forward to being included among the top 200 or 300 universities around the world. However, our varsities are only being included in the list of Asian and emerging economies list,” he lamented.

It is shameful that Pakistan is falling behind in the higher education sector. Ten years ago, four or five of our universities were included in the top 300 to 500 varsities in the world, he disclosed.

Rehman faulted the current policies and priorities of the government the reason behind the downfall of the country’s higher education sector.



Last year, the higher education budget was cut by 60%, whereas the science and technology budget is merely Rs2.6 billion. Compare this to the budget allocated for the Orange Line Metro Train, which is Rs270 million, he said.

A road project is receiving 100 times more financing than the whole country’s science and technology budget. We need to focus on international rankings rather than Asian or emerging economies rankings, he articulated.



On the other end of the spectrum, Punjab Higher Education Department (PHEC) Chairperson Dr Nizamuddin told The Express Tribune that the inclusion of Pakistani universities was a good sign.

Universities have become conscious of international rankings and are actively providing information to evaluators, he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 14^th, 2018.