Global varsity rankings

Pakistan's presence in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2027 offers both reassurance and warning. Fifty-six Pakistani universities have secured ranked positions, up from 48 in the previous edition. Yet not one has entered the global top 400. Quaid-i-Azam University, the country's strongest performer, sits in the 551-600 band, followed by NUST in the 601-650 bracket and COMSATS in the 651-700 band.

Increasing the number of universities represented internationally is welcome, but representation should not be confused with competitiveness. The more important question is why Pakistan, with a large university system and a substantial pool of young people, remains unable to produce even one institution capable of competing near the upper reaches of global academia. The strongest among them function as research centres, technology incubators, sources of specialised talent and partners to industry. Their laboratories generate intellectual property, their academics participate in international research networks and their graduates strengthen the economies surrounding them. Weak universities therefore impose a cost far beyond the education sector. The changing geography of the rankings makes Pakistan's position particularly troubling since the rest of Asia is beginning to challenge us. China now has 17 institutions among the world's top 200. Malaysia, meanwhile, has entered this group through the University of Malaya, ranked joint 194th. These advances did not occur through cosmetic attempts to improve rankings. They reflect long-term investments.

Pakistan remains weak across much of this ecosystem. Research funding is thin and laboratories frequently struggle with outdated equipment, leaving little room for serious research. There is no shortcut into the global academic elite. Nor should policymakers obsess over moving universities a few positions up an international table. The real objective should be to build institutions whose scholarship is respected, whose graduates are competitive and whose research contributes to economic and social progress.