Higher Education in Pakistan

Higher Education in Pakistan

We are listening from our childhood that education is necessary for all the human.
Education is the third eye of a human.
Get knowledge from cradle to grave.
And such type of another quotation.

These quotations are being told from the stone age and are still being told to people in the country like Pakistan and other countries who are still developing. The meaning of education is different in different eras.

Today we are living in the 21st century, the century of technology, where every country in the world is working on technology, manufacturing new robots for different purposes, and trying to search for a new world in space. The technology made everything possible, easy to manufacture, and did everything possible to available in the market.

These technological developments are only possible with the highest quality of higher education. Unfortunately, the policies of higher education in Pakistan regarding higher education still need improvements. The condition of education in Pakistan is below average from the primary level to higher education. A country’s development is directly related to higher education. If higher education is well structured it means the country is developed and economically stable. But the economy and higher education both are poor in Pakistan.

The policies about education in Pakistan are mostly formulated as a nonproductive education. The educational policies are mostly the same as they were before independence. We are living in the 21^st century where we have a strong need for productive education to combat the economic crisis in Pakistan.

If we are looking at the ranking of the university of Pakistan, there is no university that made to rank itself in the top 600 universities of the world in The Times Higher Education World University Ranking in 2019. It means we are still under development. There are many reasons behind the low ranking and quality of our university. The reasons are the poor governance of educational institutes, lack of autonomy of public universities, strong political influence, etc.

Another big issue is that there is a lack of faculty in the university, and the higher rate of enrollment, these overloaded enrollments are due to the smaller number of public universities and destabilized governor management of institutes. Due to the smaller number of faculty, a load of teaching for the teachers is increased, and there is no room left for the research. Research is essential for the development of faculty and the improvement of teaching.

There are many other reasons that our higher education is not fruitful to the economy of the country some of them are given below:

1. a)The gap between Theory & Practice: Outdated Syllabi
2. b)Lack of Government Funding
3. c)Teachers & Teaching Quality is below par
4. d)No focus on Innovation & Ideas Generation
5. e)Lack of Research-Oriented Culture
6. f)The originality of Thought is neither inculcated nor appreciated
7. g)Huge gaps between the standard of education in Public and Private Universities
8. h)Lack of focus on Technical Education and Skill Enhancement
9. i)Unsuitable academic environment: Religious & political wings

Quality education in public sector universities needs to reorganize the level of the board of governors as well as governance through strategic and transitional change. The outcomes may be subtle or slow, but they will improve the standards of quality of education in Pakistan over a certain period.

The following remedies are suggested for the betterment of Higher Education:

1. a)Increased Public Funding for Universities
2. b)Increased Focus on Skill Enhancement & Technical Education
3. c)Updating of Syllabi in lines with modern-day requirements
4. d)Teachers Training and Refresher Courses
5. e)Establishing a Research-oriented culture
6. f)Provision of Scholarships through a competitive process
7. g)Student & Teacher Exchange programs nationally & Internationally

The quality of higher education is somehow improved since 2002 after the establishment of the Higher Education Commission (HEC). But there is only improvement in paperwork. The paperwork of some institutes is highly appreciable, but the quality of productive education is only beneficial when there is a practical implementation of the policies in universities.

The higher education system must meet the needs of potential employers and prospective employees. Currently, there is a mismatch. The higher educational system must equip itself to be the provider of first resort to provide Pakistan with a skilled workforce.

There are many other steps that must be taken — such as ensuring effective collaboration between the Centre and provinces to improve the standards of universities and other higher education institutions, – in order to make Pakistan’s higher education system world-class. With this new administration, the vision is there, and the journey has begun. It should not conclude until the destination of being world-class is reached.