Thursday, July 23, 2015

Pakistan's Rising College Enrollment and Graduation Rates

There are over 3 million students enrolled in grades 13 through 16 in Pakistan's 1,086 degree colleges and 161 universities, according to Pakistan Higher Education Commission report for 2013-14.  The 3 million enrollment is 15% of the 20 million Pakistanis in the eligible age group of 18-24 years.  In addition, there are over 255,000 Pakistanis enrolled in vocational training schools, according to Technical Education and Vocational Training Authority (TEVTA).

Graduation Day at NED Engineering University For 1300 Graduates in 2013
Pakistani universities have been producing over half a million graduates, including over 10,000 IT graduates, every year since 2010, according to HEC data. The number of university graduates in Pakistan increased from 380,773 in 2005-6 to 493,993 in 2008-09. This figure is growing with rising enrollment and contributing to Pakistan's growing human capital.


Rising University Enrollment in Pakistan Starting in 2001-2002. Source: ICEF Monitor


Source: UNESCO's Global Education Digest 2009



Higher education in Pakistan has come a long way since its independence in 1947 when there was only one university, the University of Punjab. By 1997, the number of universities had risen to 35, of which 3 were federally administered and 22 were under the provincial governments, with a combined enrollment of 71,819 students. A big spending boost by President Pervez Musharraf helped establish 51 new universities and awarding institutions during 2002-2008. This helped triple university enrollment from 135,000 in 2003 to about 400,000 in 2008, according to Dr. Ata ur Rehman who led the charge for expanding higher education during Musharraf years. There are 161 universities with 1.5 million students enrolled in Pakistan as of 2014.



Former Chairman of HEC summed up the country's higher education progress well in a piece he wrote for The News in 2012: "Pakistan has achieved critical mass and reached a point of take-off. For this phenomenal growth to continue, it is important for the government and other stakeholders to support and further strengthen the HEC as a national institution and protect its autonomy. If this momentum continues for another 10 years, Pakistan is certain to become a global player through a flourishing knowledge economy and a highly literate population".

Related Links:

Haq's Musings

10 Pakistan Universities Among Top 300 in Asia

Pakistan's Growing Human Capital

History of Literacy in Pakistan

Education Attainment in South Asia

Dr. Ata ur Rehman Defends HEC Reforms

Biotech and Genomics in Pakistan

Business Education in Pakistan

Armed Drones Outrage and Inspire Young Pakistanis

34 comments:

Z said...

Problem is lack of foreign and local investment which is resulting in shortage of jobs.

Riaz Haq said...

Z: " Problem is lack of foreign and local investment which is resulting in shortage of jobs."

Growth of human capital is essential in attracting domestic and foreign investment.

Pakistan's employment growth has been the highest in South Asia region since 2000, followed by Nepal, Bangladesh, India, and Sri Lanka in that order, according to a recent World Bank report titled "More and Better Jobs in South Asia".

Total employment in South Asia (excluding Afghanistan and Bhutan) rose from 473 million in 2000 to 568 million in 2010, creating an average of just under 800,000 new jobs a month. In all countries except Maldives and Sri Lanka, the largest share of the employed are the low‐end self-employed.

The report says that nearly a third of workers in India and a fifth of workers in Bangladesh and Pakistan are casual laborers. Regular wage and salaried workers represent a fifth or less of total employment.

Analysis of the labor productivity data indicates that growth in TFP (total factor productivity) made a larger relative contribution to the growth of aggregate labor productivity in South Asia during 1980–2008 than did physical and human capital accumulation. In fact, the contribution of TFP growth was higher than in the high‐performing East Asian economies excluding China.

http://www.riazhaq.com/2011/09/pakistan-tops-south-asia-jobs-growth.html

Riaz Haq said...

ISLAMMABAD (Dunya News) – Senate passed a bill for establishment of Capital Univeristy of Science and Technology in Islamabad on Thursday, reported Dunya News.

Government is stepping up on its efforts to improve state of education in country, one of which is to increase the number of institutions.

Previously, National Assembly had given approval for the university on May 18. Fields of computing, engineering, management and social sciences will be taught at the institute.

Departments of electrical engineering, mechanical and civil engineering, computer sciences, biosciences, bioinformatics will be established.

Capital University will follow Higher Education Commission’s standards and offer 4-years Bachelors Honors, 3-years Doctor of Philosophy and 2-years masters of science. The institute will employ 50 PhD and 70 MS qualified teachers.

The university will be based in Islamabad.

http://dunyanews.tv/index.php/en/Pakistan/288389-Senate-approves-bill-for-Capital-University-of-Sci

nayyer ali said...

500k college graduates per year is a decent number for Pakistan but they need to keep pushing it higher every year. In the US about 30% of young people achieve at least a bachelors degree, for Pakistan that would be the equivalent of about 1.5 graduates per year. I wonder how many Pakistanis are getting college education abroad and do most of them return home? Another major issue in developing countries is that the quality of higher education can vary a lot. In the best universities it is fairly comparable to US and Europe but the lower rank do not produce well educated graduates. China produces a massive number of engineering grads per year but only a fraction of them are equivalent to US engineering students. Pakistan needs to expand primary education to capture the entire nation, and it also needs to ensure high economic growth so that these college grads can do something useful with their education.

Riaz Haq said...

Times of India Op Ed by Morgan Stanley's Head of Emerging Markets Ruchir Sharma on "The Quiet Rise of South Asia":

Together, India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Pakistan are now growing at an average annual pace of close to 6%, compared to 2% for the emerging world outside China.
Due to their lower per capita income, it should hardly be surprising that South Asian economies are growing faster than other emerging markets. But that spread of nearly four percentage points is the largest in the region’s post-independence history. While hopes for a revival in India exploded when Prime Minister Narendra Modi took power in 2014, promising major economic reform, its smaller neighbours remained under the radar. Now, however, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Pakistan are leading the quiet rise of South Asia.
Since the global financial crisis, a number of emerging markets have been ramping up debt and government spending. But the smaller South Asian economies have largely avoided these excesses, so they still have room to boost growth. While falling prices for oil and other raw materials are hurting most emerging regions, they are a boon to the nations of South Asia, all of which are commodity importers.
The impact of low commodity prices is helping to keep inflation low even as growth accelerates, while countries like Brazil, Russia and South Africa face stagflation. Many emerging economies have been hurt by rising wages and have seen their share of global exports decline, but not Pakistan and Bangladesh. Their wages are still competitive, and they are increasing their share of global exports, even as growth in global trade is stagnating for the first time since the 1980s.
They are benefitting along with Sri Lanka as manufacturers look for cheaper wages outside of China, with wages in the manufacturing sector having increased by 370% in the world’s second largest economy over the past decade. Bangladesh is now the second leading exporter, after China, of ready-made clothes to the US and Germany.
And as China and Japan compete with India for influence in the Indian Ocean, they are pouring billions into new ports in Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The upshot of these positive trends is that South Asia could sustain a growth rate of over 5% for the next few years, which would make it one of the fastest-growing regions in the emerging world.
The competition between Japan and China is a huge boost: after Beijing recently announced plans to build a $46 billion “economic corridor” connecting Pakistan to China, Japan beat out China for rights to build Bangladesh’s first deep-water port, at Matarbari. The inflow of foreign direct investment is helping to keep South Asia in what can be identified as the investment sweet spot: strong economies tend to invest between 25 and 35% of GDP. Sri Lanka and Bangladesh are now right in the sweet spot, at or near 30% of GDP.
Investment also tends to have the greatest impact on jobs and growth when it is going into manufacturing. Both Sri Lanka and Bangladesh have strong manufacturing sectors, representing 18% of GDP. Pakistan is much weaker, with investment at 14% and manufacturing at 12% of GDP. But Pakistan’s manufacturing sector is now growing, due to both increasing electric output and the fact that – like Bangladesh – its young population and labour force is expected to continue expanding for at least the next five years.
At a time when much of the workforce is entering retirement age in larger emerging nations including China, Korea, Taiwan and Russia, the positive demographic trends in South Asia are potentially a big competitive advantage. With exports and investment strong, Bangladesh is running a current account surplus, Sri Lanka is reducing a deficit now equal to 3% of GDP, and Pakistan has cut its current account deficit from 8% of GDP in 2008 to just 1%.

http://blogs.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/toi-edit-page/bucking-stagnation-elsewhere-the-quiet-rise-of-south-asia/

Riaz Haq said...

Forbes: Op Ed: #Pakistan Next Success Story. #economy, political stability, #China #FDI #development #returns http://www.forbes.com/sites/danielrunde/2015/08/03/pakistan-the-next-colombia-success-story/ …

Pakistan has the potential to be a global turnaround story. I recently spent time in-country listening to a wide range of perspectives and I am convinced that U.S. policymakers and business leaders need to look at Pakistan beyond the security lens. Getting our relationship right will require deeper thinking and action on issues around trade and investment, education, and broader economic development. The United States ought to be Pakistan’s preferred partner given its 70-year relationship. But in order to participate in the upside of the Pakistan story, the United States will need to view Pakistan not as a problem to be solved but as a potential partner. There are several changes that suggest the United States should soon act on this opportunity.

The Pakistan of today is similar to that of Colombia in the late 1990s. Back then, words like “drugs, gangs, and failed state” were freely associated with the Andean country. Today, Colombia has a free trade agreement with the United States, a stable 3.5 percent annual GDP growth, a free trade agreement with the United States, and security is vastly improved. Similarly, Western headlines on Pakistan today gloss over the progress on the security front, the increased political stability, and incremental progress on the economic front. In spite of this potential for Pakistan, it continues to suffer from a terrible country brand that has not caught up with realities on the ground.

Action Against the Taliban

Pakistan’s improving security dynamic is the first change to note. It is hard to understate the before-and-after effects of the Taliban’s horrendous December 2014 attack on a military-owned elementary school in Peshawar that killed 145 people, including 132 schoolchildren aged eight to eighteen. Almost immediately after the attack, the military responded in force by taking out 157 terrorists via air strikes and ground operations in the North Waziristan and Khyber tribal areas adjacent to Peshawar.


What has not sunk into international perceptions about the country is the tangible consensus among government, military, and Pakistani citizens against violent terrorists including the Pakistani Taliban and the alphabet soup of other terrorist groups in and around the country. ..

Political Stability

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is governing with a competent cabinet, a majority coalition, and is working in tandem with the military to deliver peace and security. Sharif was elected in Pakistan’s transition of power between democratically elected governments in April 2013 and so far, he has demonstrated enough of a commitment to democracy.

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Better Luck Around the Corridor

Chinese investment is another reason why the United States should reassess its Pakistan calculus. Since Xi Jinping first announced the $46 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) in 2014, the project has quickly become the centerpiece of diplomatic relations between the two countries. CPEC will include highways, railways, and oil and gas pipelines – all constructed via Chinese companies.

A New Development Story

Pakistan has a population of 182.1 million people and is the 6th largest country in the world. Sixty percent of the population is of working age. By 2025, Pakistan’s total population will be 300 million, making it roughly ten times the size of Afghanistan. Pakistan is also among the world’s fastest urbanizing countries with half its people projected to live in cities by 2050. Twenty years ago, Islamabad, a planned city much like Brasilia, had a population of 400,000; today, it has a population of around 3 million including the peri-urban areas. Many Pakistani cities are undergoing a similar urbanization process, and this will create massive demands on food, energy, water, and consumer goods.

Riaz Haq said...

#Pakistan, the Next #software Hub? 1500 registered #informationtechnology companies, 10,000 IT grads every year. http://nyti.ms/1P0Yfdu

Pakistan’s I.T. sector is carving a niche for itself as a favored place to go for freelance I.T. programmers, software coders and app designers. There are now 1,500 registered I.T. companies in Pakistan, and 10,000 I.T. grads enter the market every year. Energetic members of the middle class educated in Pakistan’s top universities, they have honed their skills at the many hackathons, start-up fairs and expos, digital summits and entrepreneurial events at campuses, software houses and I.T. associations across the country.

Next comes showcasing their skills to a global market in order to grow businesses. So Pakistani freelance programmers flock to global freelance hiring sites such as Upwork, or fiverr.com, where digital employers in the United States, Australia or Britain bid to hire programmers for small software and app projects. On these platforms, hiring someone from Pakistan becomes as easy as hiring someone from Ireland or India, because traditional concerns about security, corruption and invasive bureaucracy in Pakistan do not apply.

The formula is working: the Pakistani programmers market ranks as the No. 3 country for supplying — freelance programmers — behind only the United States and India, and up from No. 5 just two years ago. It ranks in the upper 10 to 25 percent on Upwork’s listing of growth rates for top-earning countries, alongside India, Canada and Ukraine. Pakistan’s freelance programmers already account for $850 million of the country’s software exports; that number could go up to $1 billion in the next several months, says Umar Saif, who heads the Punjab I.T. Board and previously taught and did research work at M.I.T.

The optimism one hears in Karachi and Lahore even withstood a scandal last May, when news broke that Axact, one of Pakistan’s largest I.T. companies, was operating as a fake degree mill. Members of the tight-knit I.T. community reacted at first with fears for Pakistan’s chances to become a major player on the world’s I.T. stage. Perhaps those fears acted as a spur to the authorities, who arrested Axact’s chief within weeks after the scheme was laid bare.

In any event, three days after investigators raided Axact’s offices, Naseeb Networks International, a Lahore-based company that runs the online job marketplace Rozee.pk, announced that it had won a third round of investments, worth $6.5 million, from the European investment firms Vostok Nafta and Piton Capital, bringing the company’s total venture capital funding to $8.5 million. It was the latest in a series of large venture capital investments in Pakistan over the last year and a half.

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It’s now also faster and easier for foreign companies to acquire the apps these programmers create, in contrast with negotiating traditional service contracts, and Mr. Saif anticipates that such start-ups will themselves become targets for acquisition by overseas companies.

According to him, venture capital is the one missing ingredient in an enabling environment that the government, universities and software associations are building. Per Brilioth, the managing director of Vostok Nafta Investment, agrees. “The macro indicators and demographics are very strong,” he said, “and the country doesn't seem to get a lot of investor attention, so valuations are reasonable."

Those factors — and the rapidity with which Pakistan’s 200 million people are embracing the Internet on sub-$50 Chinese 3G smartphones — are markers on which Pakistan’s entrepreneurial leaders pin their hopes for the future. They see problems like Axact as bumps in the road as Pakistan builds a haven for I.T. development.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/11/opinion/bina-shah-pakistan-the-next-software-hub.html?_r=0

http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2015/05/18/the-axact-scandal-and-pakistans-growing-tech-sector/

Riaz Haq said...

Pakistani, American academics meet to promote higher education linkages

Senior Pakistani academics from 33 universities met with 21 US partner institutions in Washington DC for a four-day workshop from October 26 to 30. The workshop allowed participants to promote community engagement, interactive teaching methods, collaborative research, and academic regional integration in Pakistan and the United States. The event was organised through the University Partnerships Program, an educational initiative sponsored by the US Mission to Pakistan with support by the US Department of State in Washington DC.

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HEC Chairman Dr. Mukhtar Ahmed addressed the 55 participants in a videotaped message saying, “The United States-Pakistan University Partnerships Program forges a spirit of academic collaboration between our countries’ higher education communities and contributes to the overall quality of higher education. Regular and meaningful discourse among scholars, students, and faculty has supported the Higher Education Commission’s goals to promote social sciences and humanities in Pakistan. Further, it has helped align research priorities and needs throughout the country.”

The University Partnerships Programme is a flagship higher-education program sponsored by the US Mission to Pakistan. It provides over $25 million dollars in funding to 44 universities in Pakistan and the United States to create three-year partnerships that foster collaboration, curriculum reform, and joint research. Since 2012, approximately 500 faculty members, administrators, and students from both countries have participated in this exchange programme. The first University Partnerships Best Practices Workshop was held in 2013 at the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-6-348538-Pakistani-American-academics-meet-to-p

Riaz Haq said...

#China to build $1.5 billion science park in #Islamabad #Pakistan http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/national/25-Nov-2015/china-to-invest-1-5bn-for-pakistan-china-science-park …

China on Wednesday agreed to invest $1.5 billion to set up Pakistan-China Science Park in Islamabad.

Minister for Science and Technology Rana Tanvir Hussain - who is on a visit to China - signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with his Chinese counterpart UN Urmaqi. He also invited the Chinese investers to visit Islamabad in next month to select location for construction of the Park by March 2016. He expressed his gratitude for huge investment in Pakistan.

The minister said that Pakistan and China had a lot to share with each other in term of technology, expertise and business. “We are looking to strengthen our mutual ties on economic as well as technological fronts,” he said, adding that this project would prove to be a link of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). It would bring prosperity to the people of both sides.

Riaz Haq said...

Here's a Dawn report on an emerging science city in Karachi:

....Of these five centers, one is the only institute for human clinical trials in Pakistan, the other a core of computational biology and the third provides consultancy to people suffering from genetic diseases.

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The centers and their growth have been working towards what has been termed as a ‘silent revolution’ and had been described by Professor Wolfgang Voelter of Tubingen University as a ‘miracle.’

The Hussain Ebrahim Jamal (HEJ) Research Institute of Chemistry was only a small post graduate institute before a generous donation of Rs 5 million in 1976 set the center towards the path of excellence. Latif Ebrahim Jamal’s endowment, on behalf of the Hussain Ebrahim Jamal Foundation, was the largest private funding for science in Pakistan at the time.

The center houses old NMR machines of 300 megahertz to state-of-the-art Liquid Chromatograph Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (LCNMR).

Under the leadership of eminent chemist Dr Salimuzzaman Siddiqui and Dr Atta-ur-Rehman, the institute became a magnet for more funding and projects from around the world. Over a period of time, it received $30 million in funding from various countries. Recently, Islamic Development Bank (IDB) donated $ 40 million for research on regional and tropical diseases. Dr Atta-ur-Rehman, a renowned chemist and the former chairman of Higher Education Commission said,

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Currently, the center has one of the largest PhD programs in the country in the fields of natural product chemistry, plant biotechnology, computational biology, spectroscopy and other disciplines at the frontiers of science.

Young scholars research scientific literature at the LEJ National Science Information Center. The facility is connected to the world’s largest science database, ranging from thousands of primary research journals and books. -Photo by author
Young scholars research scientific literature at the LEJ National Science Information Center. The facility is connected to the world’s largest science database, ranging from thousands of primary research journals and books. -Photo by author
The ground floor of the institute holds 12 state-of-the-art Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) machines that are vital in the research of the structure, reaction and other properties of various compounds and molecules, as well as an X-ray crystallography setup which uses X-rays to learn the structure of crystalline material.

The X-ray crystallography setup is used to construct 3-D structures of molecules under study. -Photo by author
The X-ray crystallography setup is used to construct 3-D structures of molecules under study. -Photo by author
“We have recently finished the structure of a compound showing anti-inflammatory activity,” said Sammer Yousuf, senior research officer at the institute who was awarded the Regional Prize for Young Scientists by the Third World Academy of Sciences (TWAS) in 2011 for her work.

“In the last two and a half years our institute was awarded 24 international patents,” Dr Rehman proudly adds.

Since its inception, the HEJ which was inducted into the International Center for Chemical and Biological Sciences (ICCBS) in the ‘90s has produced hundreds of doctorates, thousands of papers and hundreds of international patents, and also helps over 350 industries across Pakistan. The Industrial Analytical Center at the HEJ provides testing, consultancy and research for various industries in Pakistan.

The construction of a state-of-the-art center for nanotechnology is underway while the Jamil-ur-Rehman Center for Genome Research, also falling under HEJ, is almost complete. The center, named after Dr Rehman’s father who was the main donor of the institute, already houses modern gene sequencing machines.

http://dawn.com/news/1058496/pakistans-silent-revolution

Riaz Haq said...

Experts have underlined the importance of promoting creative and innovative entrepreneurship for harnessing the potential of over 65% young population of the country with an aim to make them job creators rather than job-seekers.

They expressed these views at the two-day ‘Annual Entrepreneurship Conference: Learn, Create and Lead’, organised by the Entrepreneurship Development Institute at the Convention Centre of Pakistan.

“Pakistan has more than 65% of youth population that is below 25 years of age; there is an urgent need for innovative use of modern technology and resources to harness this potential for constructive purposes,” said Higher Education Commission Chairman Dr Mukhtar Ahmed.

He said there were 100 public-sector and 73 private-sector universities in the country and some of them have already introduced entrepreneurship courses in their curricula, but there is still a need for more in many other universities.

“HEC is planning to establish centres for entrepreneurship in universities to facilitate the youth; we also encourage universities to pursue applied research for innovative entrepreneurship,” Ahmed said and underlined the need for establishing maximum technology parks in universities for providing one-window opportunity to the youth to develop their entrepreneurship skills at the academic level.

“We have already established one such park in the National University of Science and Technology with the support of China.” National Commission for Human Development Director General Orya Maqbool Jan said, “Entrepreneurship is not a concept of the modern world; it was founded by Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) centuries ago, who was the greatest innovative entrepreneur.”

He introduced justice, principle and ethics-based entrepreneurship, while the modern corporate culture compromises on these three points, Jan said.

Ace Consultant CEO Faez H Syel suggested that policy-makers and authorities should make traditional sectors like plumbing, farming, automobile and small mechanical works the focus of modern entrepreneurship training so that a large chunk of the population could benefit from it.

Neya Tel CEO Siraj Tahir said, “You cannot make a business a success without taking initiative. There is no need for higher education to be a good and creative entrepreneur or to have huge monetary resources. You only need ideas and commitment to accomplish them.”

http://tribune.com.pk/story/1000377/learn-create-lead-experts-lay-stress-on-innovative-entrepreneurship/

Riaz Haq said...

#Pakistan ranks among top 10 for #science contribution in #Asia for 1996-2014

http://www.scimagojr.com/countryrank.php?area=0&category=0&region=Asiatic+Region&year=all&order=it&min=0&min_type=it …

pic.twitter.com/L2FYioicdD

Riaz Haq said...

#Microsoft launches http://Rozgar.Work , #Employability & #Entrepreneurship Platform for #Pakistan. #skillsgap

http://www.winbeta.org/news/microsoft-launches-rozgar-work-employability-entrepreneurship-platform-pakistan

Microsoft has launched the first of its kind Employability and Entrepreneurship Platform, Rozgar.Work, in Pakistan, in collaboration with World Vision-Pakistan (via ProPakistani). The platform offers job-seekers with end-to-end career guidance, up skilling, job-matching and mentorship to address the ever growing issue of unemployment and underemployment. The new platform is powered by Microsoft Windows Azure Cloud, SQL, and SharePoint 2013.

The event was attended by Federal Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal as the chief guest, as well as Microsoft and World Vision executives.

Microsoft Pakistan’s General Manager Nadeem Malik said,

At Microsoft we believe in sharing our success with the communities, wherever we operate. Rozgar.Work is a robust platform which can enable revolutionary enrichments in the society, by empowering the youth, to find effective solutions for the various challenges faced by the society.

Entrepreneurship and skill-development are the solution to many of Pakistan’s economic issues. Microsoft is committed to create fresh opportunities for the youth, to play a key role in nation-building. We appreciate the valuable support from WVI-Pakistan to make this program successful.

Program Development Manager at WVI -Pakistan Rizwan ul Haq said,

We are really excited to be a part of this pioneering initiative with Microsoft. World Vision is an international humanitarian organization that works for poverty alleviation,

Social Development, Disaster-Relief, Education, Healthcare and Justice for the deprived segments. We would like to thank the leading enterprises like TIE, PASHA, that have joined today’s event to show their support for this initiative.

Career counselling is a big task, and if you don’t do your proper research, you may end up in a field which is not fit for you in the long run. With Rozgar.Work, job seekers can get in touch with people who are well informed about the careers and can help new graduates make the right choice. Additionally, the platform also boasts an Online & Mobile Job-Matching & Search-functionality allowing job seekers to search for the best possible job opportunities available.

The platform also has online courses to learn from, as well as online and offline training options for different skills, and to earn a diploma.

Riaz Haq said...

The (Pakistan) minister (Ahsan Iqbal), while announcing Rs1 billion grants for the University of Swabi said the government is committed to increase access to higher education and for that purpose sub-campuses and virtual campuses of the universities would be established with assistance of Higher Education Commission at district level in the next three years.

He said the government wants that every student irrespective of their financial status get higher education near their homes and no student leaves their education incomplete due to financial constraints.

Quality education and access to higher education is the right of every citizen of Pakistan and the government to fulfill this national obligation has established a network of quality educational institutes to facilitate students, he said.

Iqbal said the past regimes had restricted bilateral relations with US to defense cooperation, but the Nawaz Sharif’s government after coming into power had widened scope of the bilateral relationship with US and laid the foundation of multi dimensional ‘Pak-US Knowledge Corridor’ to bring educational revolution in the country.

Pak-US knowledge corridor is one of the most significant initiatives of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz government in the entire diplomatic history of Pakistan with the United States. Under the program, as many as 10,000 talented Pakistani scholars would be enrolled in the top US universities in the next 10 years under Pakistan Vision 2025 for transforming the country into knowledge economy essential for sustained development.

In 1998, total number of PhDs in science and technology in the country was 350. The number now increased to 7,500 PhDs whereas 3,000 more PhDs are being produced to cater to the educational and research needs of the country.

Iqbal said the government accorded top priority to human resource development and took measures for increasing higher education budget during the last three and half years to bring educational revolution in the country.

Education budget, for the Higher Education Commission (HEC), which was only Rs100 billion between 2010 and 2013, increased to record Rs2,015 billion between 2013 and 2016. As many as Rs1.4 billion budget that was allocated to three mega HEC projects in Khyber Pakthunkhwa in 2010-13 had been enhanced to record Rs11.4 billion for 13 HEC projects in KP.

https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/178410-No-change-in-CPECs-western-route-minister

Riaz Haq said...

Dr Ata ur Rehman on Geo TV's Jirga with Saleem Safi

2.6% of 17-24 yrs of age group enrolled in higher education in 2000 jumped to 13-14% now.

Riaz Haq said...

Only 10% of students have access to higher education in country

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/education/news/Only-10-of-students-have-access-to-higher-education-in-country/articleshow/28420175.cms

Access to education beyond higher secondary schooling is a mere 10% among the university-age population in India. This is the finding of a report "Intergenerational and Regional Differentials in Higher Education in India" authored by development economist, Abusaleh Shariff of the Delhi-based Centre for Research and Debates in Development Policy and Amit Sharma, research analyst of the National Council of Applied Economic Research.
The report says that a huge disparity exists — as far as access to higher education is concerned — across gender, socio-economic religious groups and geographical regions. The skew is most marked across regions. Thus, a dalit or Muslim in south India, though from the most disadvantaged among communities, would have better access to higher education than even upper caste Hindus in many other regions. Interestingly, people living in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal — designated as the north central region — and those in northeast India have the worst access to higher education. Those in southern India and in the northern region — consisting of Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Chandigarh, Haryana and Delhi — are relatively better placed in this regard.
In the age group 22-35 years, over 15% in the northern region and 13% in the southern region have access to higher education. In the north-central region, the number is just 10% for men and 6% for women whereas in the northeast, only 8% men and 4% women have access to higher education.

The report, brought out by the US-India Policy Institute in Washington, is based on data from the 64th round of NSSO survey 2007-08. It throws up quite a few other interesting facts. For instance, among communities, tribals and dalits fare worst with just 1.8% of them having any higher education. Muslims are almost as badly off, with just 2.1% able to go for further learning. Similarly, just 2% of the rural population is educated beyond higher secondary level, compared to 12% of the urban population and just 3% of women got a college education compared to 6% of men.
South India offers the best opportunities for socially inclusive access to higher education including technical education and education in English medium. For instance, the share of Hindu SC/ST in technical education in south India is about 22%, and the share of Muslims 25%. These were the lowest shares among all communities in south India. But this was higher than the share of most communities including Hindu OBCs and upper caste Hindus in most other regions. South India also has the highest proportion of higher education in the private sector at about 42%, followed by western India where it is 22%. The northeast has the least privatized higher education sector and is almost entirely dependent on government-run or aided institutions.

Riaz Haq said...

The very idea of what #universities are meant to be is under severe attack in #Modi's #India. #highered https://qz.com/954042 via @qzindia

Higher education in India is going through a critical phase. The country has witnessed tremendous growth in the sector since independence, and now has 750 universities, 35,000 colleges and 30 million students. But none of its best institutions have managed to secure a place in the list of the world’s top 200 universities.

This is particularly worrying as some of India’s leading institutions are now facing drastic cuts in employment and resources. The prestigious Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), for instance, has just announced an 83% cut in its research funds and a reduction in the number of students accepted for doctoral and masters degrees for the academic year 2017-2018.
And on March 25, the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), another centre of research excellence, issued termination letters to 25 members of its faculty.
Both moves have come under scrutiny, leading, in the case of JNU, to a massive strike by students.
These are dark times for India’s higher education system. Not only because of the poor showing of universities but especially because of the shrinking space for genuine intellectual freedom on the nation’s campuses.
Universities under attack

In fact, the very idea of what universities are meant to be is under severe attack in India. For the past couple of years, universities in the country have been the theatre of various upheavals.

In 2016, protests erupted in JNU after an event organised by students turned into a political controversy over the Kashmir conflict and led to a countrywide debate on nationalism.

In February 2017, Hyderabad University students, who had taken part in a national solidarity movement in 2016 when Rohith Vemula, a young PhD candidate and a liberal student activist committed suicide over caste discrimination, were barred from taking exams.
The same month, Ramjas College, which is part of Delhi University, witnessed violent protests by the nationalist student organisation Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) against a seminar. The group is an offshoot of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its parent organisation, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).
The event, which was called off after the protest, was actually titled Cultures of Protest. It had triggered the ire of the conservative organisation because the list of speakers included two JNU students, Umar Khalid and Shehla Rashid, who were deemed to be part of the clash that shook JNU in 2016.
Disruption of free speech

The incidents at Ramjas College and JNU are not one-off episodes. Rather, such clashes have become the new norm in Indian universities.
Just a week before the Ramjas incident, professor Rajshri Ranawat of the Jai Narain Vyas University, Jodhpur (Rajasthan) was suspended after a protest—once again led by the ABVP—simply for inviting JNU professor Nivedita Menon for a talk.
She had allegedly made some controversial remarks about Kashmir and the Indian Army, questioning India’s role in the disputed territory. A police complaint was also lodged against her in Jodhpur.

Riaz Haq said...

#China now produces 8 million #University graduates a year, twice as many as the #USA. #education

https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2017/04/higher-education-in-china-has-boomed-in-the-last-decade

A record-breaking 8m students will graduate from Chinese universities in 2017. This figure is nearly ten times higher than it was in 1997 and is more than double the number of students who will graduate this year in the US.

Just two decades ago, higher education in China was a rare privilege enjoyed by a small, urban elite. But everything changed in 1999, when the government launched a program to massively expand university attendance. In that year alone university admissions increased by nearly 50% and this average annual growth rate persisted for the next 15 years, creating the largest influx of university educated workers into the labour market in history.

Annual enrolment of new students in higher education institutions.Author provided

Growth in the number of engineering students has been particularly explosive as part of the government’s push to develop a technical workforce which can drive innovation. But overall student numbers have increased in all subjects – even in the humanities and social sciences. New universities have sprung up and student enrolment numbers have rocketed. The second most popular subject major is in fact literature – and the fastest growing is law.

Underemployment

In 2013, Chinese citizens started blogging about the “hardest job hunting season in history” – and each year it seems to get harder for Chinese graduates. In 2017 there will be 1m more new graduates than there were in 2013. And yet, the graduate unemployment rate has remained relatively stable – according to MyCOS Research Institute, only 8% of students who graduated in 2015 were unemployed six months after graduating.

But if you delve a little deeper it’s clear that unemployment rates mask the more subtle issue of “underemployment”. While most graduates eventually find work, too many end up in part-time, low-paid jobs.

Six months after graduating, one in four Chinese university students have a salary that is below the average salary of a migrant worker, according to MyCOS data. History, law and literature have some of the lowest starting salaries, and also the lowest employment rates.

And for students who choose arts and humanities subjects in high school, the average starting salary after university is lower than that of their classmates who didn’t go to university, according to survey data. Of the 50 most common graduate occupations, 30% are low-skilled and don’t require a degree. For these students, low starting salaries and limited career progression call into question the value of their degree.

The high cost of living, particularly in big cities, has also forced millions of graduates into “ant tribes” of urban workers living in squalid conditions – often in basements – working long hours in low-paid jobs.

The big divide

But for a different group of graduates, the contrast is striking. Engineering, economics and science majors in China all enjoy high starting salaries and the top employment rates. These graduates fill the highest-paid entry positions in the most attractive employment sectors of IT, operations, real estate and finance. Chinese tech graduates do particularly well. In 2015 the top five highest paying graduate jobs were all IT related.

Riaz Haq said...

Pakistan Education Statistics 2015-16.pdf


http://library.aepam.edu.pk/Books/Pakistan%20Education%20Statistics%202015-16.pdf

In Pakistan, 1,418 degree colleges are
providing their services in education
system. Out of these 1,259 (89%) are in
public sector, whereas 159 (11%) are in
private sector.
The total enrolment at degree college
stage i.e. in grades 13 and 14, is 0.937
million. Out of these students at this
stage of education, 0.808 million (86%)
are completing their degrees from public
sector, whereas, rest of the 0.128 million
(14%) students are in private sector.
There are only 11% degree colleges are
running under private sector of
education, the reason is that these
colleges tend to be more expensive then
public colleges.

----------

There are total 163 universities
providing their services in both public
and private sector of education. Out of
these universities 91 (56%) are working
under umbrella of public sector,
whereas 72 (44%) are working under the
supervision of private sector as
reflected.
The total enrolment in the universities,
i.e., at post graduate stage, is 1.355
million. Out of this enrolment 1.141
million (84%) students are enrolled in
public universities, whereas, 0.214
million (16%) students are studying in
private universities. Despite the fact
that there are more universities in public
sector there are less students in these
universities as compare of private
sector.
The total male enrolment in the
universities is 0.753 million (56%),
whereas, the female enrolment is 0.602
million (44%).

Riaz Haq said...

Pakistan Education Statistics 2015-16.pdf

http://library.aepam.edu.pk/Books/Pakistan%20Education%20Statistics%202015-16.pdf

In Pakistan, there are 3,746 technical and vocational institutions of which 1,123 (30%) are in public sector, whereas 2,623 (70%) are in private sector. The total enrolment in the technical and vocational institutions is 0.315 million, of which 0.137 million (44%) is in public sector, whereas, 0.177 million (56%) is in private sector. It has been seen that 30% of public technical & vocational institutions are serving 44% of total technical & vocational enrolment. While 70% of private institutes are serving for 56% of the private sector enrolment. The total male enrolment in the technical and vocational institutions is 0.203 million (64%), whereas, the female enrolment is 0.111 million (36%). The total teachers in the technical and vocational institutions are 18,157 out of those 9,139 (50%) are in public and 9,018 (50%) are in private sector. There are 13,773 (76%) male teachers and 4,384 (22%) female teachers.

Riaz Haq said...

IT Industry has contributed 98% to Pakistan’s economy by foreign exchange earnings, Anusha Rehman

https://www.techjuice.pk/it-industry-has-contributed-98-to-pakistans-economy-by-foreign-exchange-earnings-anusha-rehman/

Minister of State for Information Technology and Telecom Anusha Rehman on Monday lead the 36th meeting of the Boards of Directors of Pakistan Software Export Board (PSEB) to assess the work being done on various IT initiatives taken by PSEB including Prime Minister’s Internship Programme and Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI).

PSEB Acting Managing Director Syed Iftikhar Hussain Shah updated the board with achievemts of PSB over the last four years. The board was briefed that PSEB has showcased their work at 11 international trade fairs alongside over 65 IT companies, which are making above two thousand leads. This exhibition enhanced the perception of Pakistan as an important destination in terms of outsourcing and investment. According to him, exhibiting at the trade fairs also helped improve the image of Pakistan as a viable destination for outsourcing and investment, because PSEB’s participation in the exhibitions have increased Pakistan’s exports in all the countries that hosted the exhibitions.

According to him, because of the active PSEB technical and financial assistance throughout the past four years, over 30 selected IT professionals and 28 IT companies have been given certificates in Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMi) platform. Apart from this, 134 companies have gotten certifications in ISO 9001, ISO27001 and ISO 20001 as PSEB empowered them to acquire exports from the developed markets.

The minister agreed and added that the great work done by Pakistan’s IT sector is evident from the fact that IT Industry exports have contributed 98% to Pakistan’s economy by foreign exchange earnings and job creation through growth in the past 4 years. She also said, “Due recognition must be extended to our freelancers who have catapulted Pakistan on the 4th spot on the largest freelancing website in the world.”

Anusha felt pride in the fact that Pakistan has a huge number of extremely talented youth, and the government is striving to provide them with the best resources and opportunities.

Anusha said that PSEB in partnership with National ICT R&D Fund (IGNITE) has recruited over 1,700 IT graduates as interns this year for having hands on experience with IT companies, as well as IT departments at Telcos/CMOs, banks, and also educational institutes. Among these interns, more than 60 percent received job offers after the completion of their training tenure.

According to her, the government is going to announce a national level digital skills training program to empower 1 million freelancers of the country who have an experience of over 5 years with the skills that are needed to increase their productivity.

Later, the minister also lead one more meeting and gave her approval for “DigiSkills”— an initiative to mentor 1 million youth with a focus to use technology in the best way by bringing excellence in technology, introducing innovation and respecting work ethics, alongside the vision of building a workforce for a future of the 4th Industrial Revolution.

She commented, “Our educational institutes are producing huge number of graduates every year. More than 20,000 IT graduates and engineers are being produced annually and it’s time that we prepare our workforce for new technologies in line with fast growing trends of freelancing and entrepreneurship.”

Riaz Haq said...

IT Industry has contributed 98% to Pakistan’s economy by foreign exchange earnings, Anusha Rehman

https://www.techjuice.pk/it-industry-has-contributed-98-to-pakistans-economy-by-foreign-exchange-earnings-anusha-rehman/

Minister of State for Information Technology and Telecom Anusha Rehman on Monday lead the 36th meeting of the Boards of Directors of Pakistan Software Export Board (PSEB) to assess the work being done on various IT initiatives taken by PSEB including Prime Minister’s Internship Programme and Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI).

PSEB Acting Managing Director Syed Iftikhar Hussain Shah updated the board with achievemts of PSB over the last four years. The board was briefed that PSEB has showcased their work at 11 international trade fairs alongside over 65 IT companies, which are making above two thousand leads. This exhibition enhanced the perception of Pakistan as an important destination in terms of outsourcing and investment. According to him, exhibiting at the trade fairs also helped improve the image of Pakistan as a viable destination for outsourcing and investment, because PSEB’s participation in the exhibitions have increased Pakistan’s exports in all the countries that hosted the exhibitions.

According to him, because of the active PSEB technical and financial assistance throughout the past four years, over 30 selected IT professionals and 28 IT companies have been given certificates in Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMi) platform. Apart from this, 134 companies have gotten certifications in ISO 9001, ISO27001 and ISO 20001 as PSEB empowered them to acquire exports from the developed markets.

The minister agreed and added that the great work done by Pakistan’s IT sector is evident from the fact that IT Industry exports have contributed 98% to Pakistan’s economy by foreign exchange earnings and job creation through growth in the past 4 years. She also said, “Due recognition must be extended to our freelancers who have catapulted Pakistan on the 4th spot on the largest freelancing website in the world.”

Anusha felt pride in the fact that Pakistan has a huge number of extremely talented youth, and the government is striving to provide them with the best resources and opportunities.

Anusha said that PSEB in partnership with National ICT R&D Fund (IGNITE) has recruited over 1,700 IT graduates as interns this year for having hands on experience with IT companies, as well as IT departments at Telcos/CMOs, banks, and also educational institutes. Among these interns, more than 60 percent received job offers after the completion of their training tenure.

According to her, the government is going to announce a national level digital skills training program to empower 1 million freelancers of the country who have an experience of over 5 years with the skills that are needed to increase their productivity.

Later, the minister also lead one more meeting and gave her approval for “DigiSkills”— an initiative to mentor 1 million youth with a focus to use technology in the best way by bringing excellence in technology, introducing innovation and respecting work ethics, alongside the vision of building a workforce for a future of the 4th Industrial Revolution.

She commented, “Our educational institutes are producing huge number of graduates every year. More than 20,000 IT graduates and engineers are being produced annually and it’s time that we prepare our workforce for new technologies in line with fast growing trends of freelancing and entrepreneurship.”

Riaz Haq said...

CDWP approves eight higher education projects worth Rs28.9bn

https://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2018/01/15/cdwp-approves-eight-higher-education-projects-worth-rs28-9bn/

The Central Development Working Party (CDWP) has approved eight projects pertaining to higher education worth Rs28.9 billion for providing scholarships and strengthening of infrastructure and other facilities.

A mega project worth Rs20.9 billion for Overseas Scholarships (Phase-III) has been approved to send 2,000 Pakistani scholars to foreign universities for doctoral studies.

Other approved projects include establishment of College of Nursing and Community Medicine at Peoples University of Medical Sciences, Nawabshah, with a cost of Rs603 million, establishment of sub-campus of National Textile University at Karachi at a cost of Rs875.5 million, and establishment of Science Laboratory and Creative Art Centre, IBA University, Sukkur at a cost of Rs852.6 million.

Other projects include the development of academic and research facilities at the University of Kotli at a cost of Rs13389 million, the establishment of Women Campuses at Kohat and Bannu worth Rs1958 million and Institute of Science and Technology at Bahawalpur at a cost of Rs2290 million.

It is pertinent to mention that most of the development projects will be executed in less-developed areas such as Nawabshah, Sukkur, Kotli, Bahawalpur, Kohat and Bannu.

HEC, since its establishment in 2002, has been carrying out a comprehensive programme of higher education reforms and institution building and has adopted a holistic approach for expansion and improvement of the sector.

The ultimate goal of the whole effort is that access to quality higher education is increased and the academics, researchers and higher learning institutions play an effective role for developing a knowledge-based economy and identify and provide solutions for various challenges faced by Pakistani society.

Riaz Haq said...

Around 700 Awarded Degrees At PAF Karachi Institute Of Economics & Technology Convocation


https://www.urdupoint.com/en/pakistan/around-700-awarded-degrees-at-paf-karachi-ins-263455.html


KARACHI, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 18th Feb, 2018 ):As many as 698 graduates were conferred degrees in the disciplines of Management Sciences, Computer Sciences and Engineering at the 15th convocation of Pakistan Air Force - Karachi Institute of Economics & Technology.

The convocation was held at the Convention Centre, PAF Museum, PAF Base Faisal, Karachi, said a statement issued, here on Sunday. The College of Management Sciences awarded 99 degrees in BBA and BSAF, 145 in MBA and 1 in MS-MS degree programs.

The College of Computing & Information Sciences awarded 122 degrees in BSCS, 48 in BS-ERP, 28 in MCS, 5 in MBA-ERP, 10 in MS-CS and 41 degrees were awarded to BCA and 6 to MCA graduates. Furthermore, the College of Engineering awarded 11 degrees to MS-EE and 182 to the graduates of BE Electronics degree program.

Vice Chief of the Air Staff, Air Marshal Farooq Habib, was the Chief Guest at the occasion and awarded Gold and Silver Medals to the distinguished students. The chief guest emphasised the importance of higher education and the significance of research and development for the progress of the country.

In his welcome address, President of the Institute, Air Vice Marshal (retd) Tubrez Asif, praised the efforts of the students and faculty while emphasising the role of education in the development of Pakistan.

He thanked the chief guest for his presence at the convocation. The names and degree programs of the gold medalists are Sarang Saeed Agha BBA; Yusra Mansoor BSCS; Saaniya Sualeh Faisal BE; Hoor-Ul-Ain Durrani BCA; Shiza Kokab Iqbal BS-ERP; Fawad Musharaf MCS; Muhammad Araib Khan MBA; Muhammad Mubeen MS-SE; Ayesha Hassan MS-EE.

The names and degree programs of the silver medalists are Muhammad Amin BBA; Omaima Tauqeer BSCS; Abdul Rehman BE; Rana Raheel Naseer BS-ERP; Binish MBA; Asma Mazhar MS-EE. APP/pas/mkm/

Riaz Haq said...

In Pakistan, students despite being the major stakeholder in higher education sector with enrollment of more than 1.7 million at 190 universities and 114 regional campuses, are missed out in the mainstream debate of higher education policies. They are not even consulted for any major policy decision. During 1970s, there was effective representation of students in the universities’ statutory decision making forums i.e senate and syndicate. The university campuses were centres of student activities i.e dialogues, poetry sessions, theatre performance, study circles and interaction with distinghsued speakers. Such useful activities were greatly helped in inculcating values and qualities of leadership, active citizenship, and good communication, culture of dialogue, peace, tolerance, co-existence, and harmony.

https://nation.com.pk/19-Jul-2018/student-centric-higher-education-policies

Riaz Haq said...

#Pakistan graduates about 22,000 #computer-#science majors each year. Significant numbers of these graduates can be groomed into a small army of highly-skilled professionals to develop #AI products and earn billions of dollars in #tech #exports. https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/404748-gateway-to-knowledge

By Dr. Ata ur Rahman

The advantage of investing in areas such as artificial intelligence is that no major investments are needed in terms of infrastructure or heavy machinery and the results can become visible within a few years. There is now a huge international demand for well-trained professionals in this field. Most advanced countries are searching for young trained professionals so that they can benefit from development taking place across the globe. Visa restrictions have been relaxed for these professionals. Artificial intelligence will find applications in almost every sphere of activity, ranging from industrial automation to defence, from surgical robots to stock-market assessment, and from driverless cars to agricultural sensors controlling fertilisers and pesticide inputs.

Pakistan churns out about 22,000 computer-science graduates each year. With additional high-quality training, a significant portion of these graduates could be transformed into a small army of highly-skilled professionals who could develop a range of AI products and earn billions of dollars in exports.

Another important step in developing a knowledge economy is to uplift our technical and vocational training centres while being mindful of the needs of industrial hubs that are to be set up under CPEC. There are over a thousand such centres, but they are in a bad state. If some of these centres are converted into high-quality technical training institutes for teachers in collaboration with Germany, China or other advanced countries, well-trained teachers can then be absorbed in the thousand or so technical training centres. This could contribute to industrial development. The Fourth Industrial Revolution is upon us with all of its challenges. We live in a world where truth has become far stranger than fiction. Each day brings thousands of new discoveries. Many of these discoveries are transforming our lives in numerous ways. The blind can now see using their tongue. Molecular scissors have been developed that allow genes to be cut from one species and transferred to another, resulting in new plant and animal species. Genes have been transferred from deep-sea jelly fishes to orchids to make flowers that glow in the dark.

Nanotechnology is being employed to commercially purify water. Superfast gene-sequencing will allow the entire human genome to be sequenced in minutes. Objects can now be moved by thought control and driverless cars are being developed. We now have anti-ageing compounds that have been known to reduce the signs of ageing among mice. Children being born today are expected to live up to the age of 120 or more.

3D-printing is being used to produce parts of human livers and kidneys. Stem cells promise to cure damaged organs and may change the manner in which medicine will be practised in the future. Our own work on the molecular basis of thought processes has provided exciting insights into the functioning of the human brain – arguably the most complex object in our universe, with 100 billion neurons in a brain, each neuron communicating with some 10,000 other neurons. This work has led to new approaches to treat Parkinson’s disease. A knowledge economy requires a different approach to socioeconomic development than that adopted by Pakistan so far. It needs to rely on carefully crafted policies and the development of knowledge and skills in selected fields for inclusive sustainable socioeconomic development.

The formation of a taskforce to strengthen knowledge economy represents one of the most important developments in the history of Pakistan. The PMmust be congratulated for focusing on this critical area. The challenge now lies in the efficient implementation of the taskforce’s recommendations.

Riaz Haq said...

VAN KALMTHOUT

Unicef education chief on the International Day of Education

https://www.dawn.com/news/1459510

According to government estimates, 40pc of all Pakistani children are out of school, 49pc of all girls and 40pc of boys are currently out of school.

The number of out-of-school children becomes higher at middle and secondary school levels. So very few children in Pakistan have an opportunity to complete matric and FA/F Sc.

However, Pakistan has managed to, on a gradual and continuous basis, reduce the total number of out-of-school children, which is a significant achievement considering the population growth.

This means that primary school education expansion has not only kept up with population growth but has gone beyond it.

For a country such as Pakistan, where population growth rates are high, the challenge is not only bringing existing out-of-school children into the education system, but each year there are greater numbers of children who need to be enrolled into primary school.

In the last three years that I have been in Pakistan, I have observed that there is a lot more attention and discussion on the number of out-of-school children, and education has emerged on top of policy agendas.

Efforts by successive provincial and federal governments, who have prioritised out-of-school children, have resulted in significant achievements.

The new government, in its national education policy framework has similarly identified the provision of equitable access to education as the top priority which is encouraging.

Accelerated learning programmes are also very important in countries such as Pakistan, where a large number of Pakistani children have never attended school, but are beyond the age where they can be enrolled in primary schools.

This is high on the new government’s agenda as well and we are heartened by this. All provinces are working on this model, and there are alternative programmes looking at how technology can support accelerated learning programmes.

In Punjab, there is a specific department to address these programmes. In Balochistan and Sindh, the provincial governments are making greater financial allocations which is very reassuring.

We are working with all governments to make multi-year sector plans because these are budgeted for and Unicef is providing technical support for this.

-----------

Quality of education is equally important. Across the world, 617 million children and adolescents who do attend school cannot read or do basic math. This also a serious issue in Pakistan.

The World Bank’s latest research shows that, on average, a Pakistani child will go to school for 8.8 years, but in terms of learning, it only translates to 4.8 years.

This is a significant gap, even in comparison to other countries in South Asia, so a lot needs to be done.

Many countries are struggling to find ways to improve the quality of education in public schools. However, there are some approaches which do work.

For example, in Punjab, there have been some good experiences with the provision of scripted lessons, which support teachers in delivering lessons. This means that rather than reliance on training, scripted lessons followed by monitoring can ensure that the students are really learning.

Riaz Haq said...

The (Pakistan) University Grants Commission (UGC) which drew its powers from The University Grants Commission Act, 1974 was replaced by the Higher Education Commission (HEC) in 2002.

http://www.technologyreview.pk/mapping-higher-education-in-pakistan/

A comparison of funding to the universities by the UGC and the HEC is enough to understand the level of commitment to higher education by the successive governments in Pakistan. The UGC provided funding of PKR 7,538.835 million to the universities from financial year 1978-79 to 2001-02 while after the establishment of the HEC, a whopping PKR 115,413.194 million have been pumped into universities by the commission from the financial year 2002-03 to 2015-16.

University education versus school education
The Pakistani universities and DAIs are offering academic and research programs in anthropology, agriculture, space sciences, fisheries and aquaculture, computer science and IT, business and management, engineering and technology, veterinary science, psychology, so on and so forth.

With institutes of higher learning like the Virtual University (VU), the country’s first university based completely on modern information and communication technologies offering academic programs while “using free-to-air satellite television broadcasts and the Internet” and the Information Technology University (ITU) which is nurturing “an environment of hightech research and entrepreneurship with its state-of-the-art facilities, world-class faculty, in-house startups incubator and well-established government and industry linkages,” Pakistan’s higher education landscape is certainly versatile.

The Pakistan Education and Research Network (PERN), an initiative of the HEC, launched in 2002, is providing communication infrastructure to the 250 plus universities and institutes of higher learning, including colleges and research organizations of the country to meet their networking and internet requirements.

Whereas, as per the latest Pakistan Education Atlas, a staggering 46 percent of public sector primary schools (124,284 primary schools) in Pakistan are without electricity. The Pakistan Education Atlas, prepared by the federal government’s Academy of Educational Planning and Management (AEPAM) and UN World Food Program, was launched in September 2015. Besides many others, the country’s school education system is facing challenges of missing facilities. Luckily, most Pakistani universities do not face such challenges.

Scholarships galore

Presently, there are some 40,000 faculty members in public and private sector universities and DAIs of the country and only about 10,000 of them are PhDs which makes it a 25 percent of the total teaching strength in Pakistani universities.

After the establishment of the HEC, Pakistan witnessed a kind of ‘revolution’ in indigenous and foreign scholarships for MPhil and PhD programs both for the faculty members and the students.

The HEC, under its Faculty Development Program (FDP), has so far awarded 2,450 foreign scholarships, executed by universities and DAIs, with maximum 938 scholarships in the discipline of Engineering and Technology. These are followed by 493 scholarships in Physical Sciences and 431 in Social Sciences.

So far, the HEC has sent 7,806 Pakistani students under its Overseas Scholarships Program out of which 5,683 have returned while 2,123 are currently pursuing MPhil leading to PhD or PhD programs abroad. Those who have returned 1,874 scholars completed their studies in Biological and Medical Sciences, 1,406 in Physical Sciences and 979 in Engineering and Technology.

Of those who availed Overseas Scholarships, 1,341 were sent to United States, 1,226 to United Kingdom and 907 to Cuba.

Riaz Haq said...

Higher Education in Pakistan (Pakistan Economic Survey 2019-20


http://www.finance.gov.pk/survey/chapter_20/10_Education.pdf

vii) Degree Colleges (Classes XIII
An enrolment of 0.59 million students is expected during 2018
enrolment of 0.60 million in 2017
were functional during 2017-18.
of students to the professional and vocational
viii) Universities
There were 211 universities with 51.5 thousand teachers in both public and private sectors
functional during 2018-19, according to the data received from
Commission (HEC). The overall enrolment of students in higher education instituti
(universities) increased to 1.86 million in 2018
Overall Assessment
The overall education situation based on
institutes, and teachers, have shown a slight improvement. The total number of enrolments
during 2017-18 was recorded at 51.0 million as compared to 47.6 million during the same
period last year, which shows an increase of 7.1 percent. It is estimated to increase to
million during 2018-19. The number of institutes stood at 262.0 thousand during 2017
compared to 260.1 thousand during last year. However, the number of institutes is estimated
to increase to 266.3 thousand in
The number of teachers during 2017
million during the last year showing an improvement
is estimated to increase to 1.83 million during 2018
0
2500
5000
7500
10000
12500
15000
17500
20000
22500
2016-17 2017-18 P
(In thousand)
Fig-10.1: Enrolment at each level
0
200
400
600
800
2016-17
(In thousand)
Fig-10.3: Teachers at each level
Pakistan Economic Survey 2019-20
17. However, it is estimated to increase by 8.7 percent,
million to 0.47 million during 2018-19.
vii) Degree Colleges (Classes XIII-XIV)
An enrolment of 0.59 million students is expected during 2018-19 in degree colleges against
enrolment of 0.60 million in 2017-18. A total of 1,659 degree colleges with 41,233 teachers
18. The slight decline in enrollment might be due to preference
of students to the professional and vocational courses.
There were 211 universities with 51.5 thousand teachers in both public and private sectors
19, according to the data received from the Higher Education
Commission (HEC). The overall enrolment of students in higher education instituti
(universities) increased to 1.86 million in 2018-19 from 1.58 million in 2017-18.

Riaz Haq said...

There are about 10 million college graduates in Pakistan in 2020, according to Pakistan Bureau of Statistics.

About 7 million have a bachelor's degree and another 3 million have master's or PhDs.

https://www.pbs.gov.pk/sites/default/files//tables/EDUCATED%20POPULATION%20BY%20LEVEL%20OF%20EDUCATION.pdf

Riaz Haq said...

Javed Hassan
@javedhassan
“We design courses in collaboration with industry and play a very important role in terms of international linkages and accreditation in the skills area. Traditionally, these skills would include plumbing, electrical, welding, carpentry, etc; today they encompass high-tech areas”

“such as AI, coding and web design. To summarise, NAVTTC designs policy for the government, allocates resources and ensures that the standards meet the local market requirements and are internationally accepted as well.”

https://twitter.com/javedhassan/status/1450857983966130179?s=20

-------------------------------

https://aurora.dawn.com/news/1144225


MAB: How receptive is the industry to this idea?
SJH: People in the industry always maintain that training is the critical need of the country and we should be investing much more in that direction. The reality is that they look to the government to provide all the training and the facilities; they don’t want to invest time and energy in a more involved collaboration. We have tried to work with the Chambers of Commerce, but so far, we have not seen the kind of enthusiasm that is needed. However, things are changing. For example, we are working closely with the Hashoo Group to train young people in the hospitality sector. We are also working with a few manufacturing companies that are providing training on the factory floor. Pakistan’s main problem is productivity and productivity is dependent on the capability of the labour force; unless industry is prepared to invest in them, it will not have a capable labour force.

MAB: From which educational stream do most trainees come from?
SJH: When we were just offering traditional skills, we were attracting young people from the Matric or FSC level from government schools; young people who probably were unable to get into a university. As a result, there was a stigma attached to vocational training, an unfair one in my view – and people preferred not to opt for vocational training, even though there are good jobs out there and with good earning potential. Under Hunarmand Pakistan’s Kamyab Jawan Scheme, we have introduced high-end technical skills that offer entrepreneurial or digital facing opportunities, and since then we have seen a very different kind of student body coming in. Many are graduates who have not found jobs because they lack industry experience (it makes you wonder what kind of graduates we are producing that the industry is unwilling to hire them) and have taken advantage of the courses we offer and almost immediately found jobs. In the first phase, we trained about 40% of our intake in traditional skills, and according to an internal survey, almost 65% found a job. In terms of the high-end technical skills, about 80 to 85% have either started their own companies, are freelancing or are in jobs. We are now seeing young people from different social stratas taking up the trainings we offer. We cannot know everything about the market and one of the best proxies to understand the market requirements is to find out what the young themselves want to learn; they better than anyone else know what kind of jobs are out there and we have persuaded the institutes to talk to industry as well as to the young people and design the courses accordingly. As a result, applications have been much higher compared to the previous ones, when NAVTTC as well as the vocational institutes had to run after people to persuade them to enrol; in fact, this time, the courses have been oversubscribed. We should not underestimate the wisdom of young people. Most of them want to find jobs and stand on their own feet; do not force them on to a certain path; instead, ask them what path they want to follow and enable it.


Riaz Haq said...

Bilal I Gilani
@bilalgilani
Enrollment in university education now stagnant for some years

https://twitter.com/bilalgilani/status/1535720016800358405?s=20&t=oEJKy7c-hNFbhP6zXIid_Q

Riaz Haq said...

Higher Education enrollment in India (41.4 million) is much higher than Pakistan (3.04 million) in 2020-21.

However the rate of growth over the last 5 years in higher education enrollment in Pakistan (12% since 2019-20, 134% since 2014-15) is much faster than in India (7.5% since 2019-20, 21% since 2014-15).

Sources: AISHI India and HEC Pakistan


https://pib.gov.in/PressReleseDetailm.aspx?PRID=1894517#:~:text=Since%202014%2D15%2C%20there%20has,1.88%20crore%20in%202019%2D20.

https://www.hec.gov.pk/english/universities/hes/Pages/HEDR-Statistics.aspx

Riaz Haq said...

Tertiary Education in Pakistan:

The survey further indicates there were approximately 500,000 students enrolled in technical & vocational education, approximately 760,000 in degree-awarding colleges, and 1.96 million students in universities in 2020-21.Nov 10, 2022

https://www.trade.gov/country-commercial-guides/pakistan-education#:~:text=The%20survey%20further%20indicates%20there,in%20universities%20in%202020%2D21.