DHA Suffa University VC calls for strengthening educational institutions

Prof Dr Sarfraz Hussain wants varsity to be in world's top 500 universities in 20 years

KARACHI: In order to capitalise on the large population of youth in Pakistan, educational institutions need to be strengthened and their network expanded.

These views were expressed by Prof Dr Sarfraz Hussain, founding vice-chancellor (VC) of DHA Suffa University, while speaking to The Express Tribune. Education is most important for the progress and survival of any nation, Prof Hussain said, adding that most emerging economies such as South Korea, Singapore and Malaysia have spent extensively in the field of education.

Before joining DHA Suffa University, he served as the dean of the faculty of electrical engineering and computer sciences at NED University of Engineering and Technology. Prior to that, he was affiliated with Pakistan Navy Engineering College, a constituent college of the National University of Sciences and Technology.

DHA Suffa University is the fastest growing university of Pakistan, Prof Hussain claimed. He added that the varsity was established in 2012 and only after two years, it was ranked 31 in the general category out of 180 public and private universities in the country. Currently, 1,700 students are enrolled in the varsity.



"We produce engineers who know the practical aspects of engineering. [They] are not just the master of theories but have matching practical skills as well," Prof Hussain remarked.

The VC wants to see the varsity among the top 10 universities of Pakistan in 10 years, whereas in the next 10 years, he targets the inclusion of DHA Suffa University in the top 500 universities of the world in the QS ranking.

Prof Hussain lamented the declining standards of primary and secondary education due to which students were unable to build a solid foundation. "The primary and secondary education need considerable improvement and we need to take measures so that rote learning concepts are eliminated altogether," he said.

According to the VC, information technology (IT) has created tremendous opportunities for acquiring knowledge at all levels. The schools and colleges must exploit and make the best use of IT resources to build a strong foundation of knowledge in students, he said, adding that only then Pakistani students would be able to compete in higher education with the students of developed countries.



Prof Hussain claimed that DHA Suffa University will be the first university to open its campus in DHA City Karachi, with a capacity of three thousand students. The under-construction campus offers state-of-the-art facilities and high rise buildings, he said, adding that it will be completed by the end of the current year.

The varsity plans to launch Bachelors in Civil Engineering programme after the inauguration of the new campus. All the BE and BS computer sciences programmes will also be offered at the DHA City campus. However, the management sciences programme will be retained at the existing campus in Defence where additional programmes in social sciences and media sciences will also be launched.

Sharing the history of the institution, the VC said when the Defence Housing Authority Karachi decided to open a varsity in 2012, the management planned to initially offer mechanical engineering programme, which is generally not preferred by private sector universities as it is highly capital intensive.

According to Prof Hussain, there was no private sector university in Sindh and Balochistan in 2012 that was offering BE mechanical programme so BE mechanical was decided as the first programme to be offered by the varsity. It was followed by BE electrical, BS computer sciences, BBA and MBA programmes.