 |
| 49,000 Pakistani Students Abroad in 2011 Source: OECD |
As the number of Pakistani students in the United States has declined from a peak of 8,644 students (ranked 13th) in 2001-02 to 5,222 in 2009-10 (ranked 23rd), English-speaking OECD nations of the United Kingdom and Australia have become the biggest beneficiaries getting increasing market share of the Pakistan education market. Both nations have benefited in spite of the fact that the UK and Australian visa rejection rates for Pakistanis are higher than for students from other nations.
A recent British Council report says that 9,815 Pakistani students (Source: HESA) put Pakistan among one of the top six countries which account for 54 percent of the UK’s (non-EU) international students. Since September 2001, it has become the market leader, a place previously held by the US. In addition to Canada in North America, several Northern European countries, including Sweden and Finland, have also become quite active in marketing their education in Pakistan. As a result, these nations are attracting thousands of Pakistani students to their universities.
There is also an upward trend in Pakistani students studying in Australia. 8,458 Pakistani students studied in Australia in 2009/2010, increase of 11/4% over 2008/2009 (Source: AEI).
The US is beginning to pick up more of the Pakistani education market share after a significant decline since 911, with its simplified visa procedures and increased marketing efforts, and the excellent scholarship opportunities that they have to offer Pakistani students. Pakistan now has the world's largest Fulbright Scholarship Program with over 200 scholarships offered to Pakistani students for advanced degrees in 2011.
Beyond the traditional destinations in OECD nations, newly industrialized countries such as Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore are more visible in Pakistan and perceived as offering quality education at lower prices.
Pakistanis take education seriously. They spend more time in schools and colleges and graduate at a higher rates than their Indian counterparts in 15+ age group, according to a report on educational achievement by Harvard University researchers Robert Barro and Jong-Wha Lee.
With rising urban middle class, there is substantial and growing demand in Pakistan from students, parents and employers for private quality higher education along with a willingness and capacity to pay relatively high tuition and fees, according to the findings of Austrade, an Australian govt agency promoting trade. Private institutions are seeking affiliations with universities abroad to ensure they offer information and training that is of international standards.
Trans-national education (TNE) is a growing market in Pakistan and recent data shows evidence of over 40 such programs running successfully in affiliation with British universities at undergraduate and graduate level, according to The British Council. Overall, the UK takes about 65 per cent of the TNE market in Pakistan.
Related Links:
Haq's Musings
Pakistani Graduation Rate Higher Than India's
India and Pakistan Contrasted in 2011
Educational Attainment Dataset By Robert Barro and Jong-Wha Lee
Quality of Higher Education in India and Pakistan
Developing Pakistan's Intellectual Capital
Intellectual Wealth of Nations
Pakistan's Story After 64 Years of Independence
Pakistan Ahead of India on Key Human Development Indices
Scholarships at Foreign Universities
Institute of International Education--Open Doors
UK's Higher Education Statistics Agency Report
Austrade on Education in Pakistan
62 comments:
Riaz, please don't tell me this too is something that you're proud of. There was a recent article in the New York Times about Indian students moving to the US by the droves for higher education because cut off levels in good Indian colleges are so high. This is a loss for India because this need for quality higher education should be fulfilled ideally within India itself...most of these Western educated students never return back to their homelands, which is another big loss and the classic "brain drain" in action: a good (Pakistani) example of such brain drain in action is the highly educated Riaz Haq himself. Truly a big loss for poor countries like India and Pakistan. What is amazing is that you're holding all this up like a badge of honour.
vicks1980, you are also forgetting that this brain drain of india also help set up india's awesome reputation in west. So many of them returned back to India and helped run indian IT companies for western companies.
Tech companies have "return to India". it is meant for their employees of Indian origin who would like to go back to india and work in their indian office.
Veritas
EMC
Texas instrument
Oracle
Microsoft
has thousands of indians returning back.
The trouble with Pakistan is that it is such a hopeless situation that no one would go back to Pak. In India's case, given their large numbers in West, even if 10-20% return they will benefit.
vicks: "Truly a big loss for poor countries like India and Pakistan."
Not necessarily.
Many of these students do return home and contribute to their home countries. Some examples in Pakistan include a Wharton grad Haris Anwar as central bank governor, Monis Rahman (Stanford) an entrepreneur head of Rozee.pk, professors such as Dr. Hoodbhoy (MIT), Dr. Ishrat Hussain (BU), etc.
And those who don't also help in various ways ranging from providing valuable services to their nations while abroad such as advice, lectures as visiting scholars, and bringing money, capital and expertise for development.
The "brain drain" effects is often exagerrated to my mind. In fact it is good for nations to have diasporas; the right trade is to move to a country where the per capita is 20-30x higher (nominally and also sometimes ppp adjusted)
An interesting aspect which i have observed personally is that country like singapore which wants talented people into their economy go and pickup the best of the students from india YOY, providing complete scholarship for studies and boarding. Only condition for the student is to work for a singapore firm for nearly 6 years as compensation to their economy
Here's an excerpt from an Op Ed in Express Tribune about Pakistan's "demographic dividend":
Pakistan has a rare opportunity to capitalise on its population bulge, fast turning into a ‘youth bulge’. It is faced with a demographic transition whereby the size of the working age population (15-64 years) will expand to occupy a larger share of the total population. This is expected to decrease the dependency ratio, lead to increased savings and long-term investment trends as more people will be working. This outcome has a direct influence on economic growth. But provided that the working age people are actually working and that the gender and educational gap do not keep potential workforces including females, out of the job market.
With around 50 per cent of the population below 20 years and 60 per cent below 30 years, Pakistan is poised for a ‘demographic dividend’, with its workforce growing at a faster rate than total population. This trend is estimated to continue for the next 30-40 years, depending upon the country’s pace of development. Pakistan’s population is projected to reach a staggering 350 million by 2050, almost double its present size, not a very encouraging indicator by itself. But the projected age structure in various demographic studies shows a sizable share to be occupied by the working age group progressively.
---------
A successful outcome will finally depend on the economy’s ability to absorb the multiplying work force into productive employment. This requires a proactive approach from policy makers to develop a comprehensive framework for infrastructure development and manpower training. The immense benefits and equally innumerable risks involved have to be timely realised.
http://tribune.com.pk/story/275878/demographic-dividend--opportunity-or-threat/
Here's an excerpt from a Dawn report on Ambassador Munter recounting how US AID has helped Pakistan over 50 years:
The US Ambassador further said Pakistanis who doubt that US assistance has borne fruit in Pakistan would be surprised to know that they have tasted it, adding, “Pakistan’s most popular citrus fruit, the kinoo, comes from California. USAID brought kinoo seeds to Pakistan in the 1960s. Today, we are helping export Pakistan’s sweetest fruit, the mango, in the other direction.”
“In the 1950s, we brought together the University of Karachi, the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business, and the University of Southern California to establish a campus in Karachi to meet the demand for business managers in the bustling port city.”
“USAID sponsored the project and the Institute of Business Administration became Pakistan’s first business school and one of the first outside of North America. IBA is recognized today as one of South Asia’s leading institutions,” he maintained.
Ambassador Munter said in 1965, Dr. Norman Borlaug, who later won the Nobel Prize for his contribution to agricultural research, came to Pakistan to introduce his new high-yielding variety of wheat.
“We worked with the Lyallpur Rotary Club to support a program that gave individual farmers a bushel of the new generation of seed if, when the harvest came in, they returned the bushel so we could give it to someone else. While modest in scope, this small project brought Lyallpur into the Green Revolution that in turn converted a food deficit region into an exporter of grains,” he added.
In the 1960s and ’70s, a consortium of U.S. construction firms employing Pakistanis, Americans, Brits, Canadians, Germans, and Irish built the two mighty dams of Tarbela and Mangla with USAID and World Bank financing, US Ambassador said, adding, “Those engineering feats – more complex than anywhere in the world at that time – soon accounted for 70 per cent of the country’s power output and made Pakistan a leading provider of clean energy.”
In the 1980s, the US Ambassador said, with USAID’s assistance, Pakistan’s private industry founded the Lahore University of Management Sciences.
“Pakistanis approached us with the idea for the new institution and we agreed to support it with a contribution of $ 10 million. Today, LUMS incubates the ideas and nurtures the leaders who are critical to Pakistan’s future,” he remarked.
Ambassador Munter said, since the inception of the Fulbright scholarship program, nearly 3,000 Pakistanis have studied in the United States and close to 1,000 Americans have studied in Pakistan, adding, today, the U.S. Fulbright program in Pakistan is the largest in the world.
Key to all these successes was that Pakistanis owned them.
We may have helped sow the seeds but Pakistanis made sure the flowers blossomed, he said, adding, “aid is a catalyst and its success depends on those who receive it.”
“So today, while we help complete dams in Gomal Zam and Satpara and rehabilitate power plants in Muzaffargarh and Jamshoro, only Pakistanis can put an end to circular debt by paying their bills and holding the system accountable.”
“While we work to cultivate international markets for Pakistan’s fruit and fashion, only Pakistanis can deliver quality products that can compete. While we pay for road construction in South Waziristan, only Pakistanis can provide the local population with economic opportunities to make use of those roads.
While we build schools in Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, only Pakistanis can ensure that qualified teachers show up to teach in them,” the US Ambassador maintained.
http://www.dawn.com/2011/11/04/pakistan-us-relationship-dogged-by-history-munter.html
British Council Pakistan is organising the Education UK virtual exhibition in Pakistan from 21 November to 30 November 2011.
Pakistan remains an important and rewarding market for the UK but it is equally a challenging environment in which to operate. Virtual exhibitions, as an appropriate remote method of recruitment, have a role in developing a flexible, sustainable approach to service provision that is appropriate to the unique operating context in Pakistan.
With a rapid increase in the number of Internet users and Internet Service Providers, and a large English-speaking population, Pakistani society has seen an unparalleled revolution in communications. Internet access has been available in Pakistan since the mid-1990s. Pakistan is reported as the most connected country in South Asia, with the highest teledensity. Today there are over 20 million frequent internet users in Pakistan.
The core objectives of developing our virtual exhibitions’ offering are to:
To provide an opportunity to showcase UK education to the public and key influencers via an interactive on-line platform
Provide a cost-effective means of outreach in the current economic climate
Offer an alternative to the traditional exhibition format in a market where delivery of a standard exhibition is not viable
Here's an Express Tribune story of a Pakistani young man of humble origins helping terror victims after studying Emergency Medicine at Yale:
.Today, Razzak is a renowned emergency medicine expert and the executive director of the Aman Foundation. He started his schooling at a humble primary school in Lyari, completing his secondary education from Nasira School in Depot Lines. Not one to be held back, the hard-working student subsequently attended Adamjee Science College where his impressive grades and unbounded enthusiasm won him a scholarship at the prestigious Aga Khan University Hospital (AKUH), the top private medical institution in the country.
---------
In collaboration with the Edhi Ambulance Service, an arm of the philanthropic Edhi organisation and the largest volunteer ambulance network in the world, he researched and analysed road traffic injuries and emergency cases. Edhi had a mountain of documentation for every call and every case it had handled in the last two decades. The downside? None of it was digitised, so he spent days sifting through it manually.
The experience stayed with him, and the data revealed a disturbing pattern. Gruesome injuries, often suffered by the poorest members of society, were often improperly handled by well-meaning doctors, simply because of a lack of know-how. These mistakes frequently, and literally, led to the loss of life and limb.
Yet, Razzak soon realised that he needed more professional training and specialisation courses before he could progress further. He sat for the US Medical Licensing Exams (MLE) and had observations at the Beth Israel Medical Centre, New York, and the Yale-New Haven Hospital, Connecticut. In 1996, his residency and training programme at Yale University’s School of Medicine started and in 1999, he was given the ‘Best Trainee’ award by the State of Connecticut.
On the personal front, Yale was also important for the doctor since he met his future wife there. Following graduation, the two stayed in the US for a few years, always looking forward to the time when they would return home. “The plan was always to come back,” says Razzak. “That’s why we never bought a house, never completely settled in.”
Before they could come back, Razzak did his PhD in Public Health at the world-renowned Karolinska Institutet in Sweden, where he focused on the use of ambulance data for monitoring road traffic accidents. Finally, in 2005, the studious boy from Kharadar returned to Pakistan as a successful, qualified expert in emergency medicine.
He joined his alma mater, AKUH as a faculty member and went on to successfully found Pakistan’s first emergency medicine service (EMS) training programme at the university. “There were many doctors who were awarded their degrees without ever administering cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) as it wasn’t a requirement,” he reveals.
This changed when his EMS programme became a mandatory rotation that all students had to serve. Subsequently, Razzak went on to build and head a new emergency department. Yet, the battle was just half won. Students in the new department faced a dilemma, similar to the one Razzak had as a student. They were required to go to the United Kingdom to sit for their exam, otherwise they would not be considered qualified.
-----------
Determined to remove, for others, the hurdles that he himself had crossed only after many toils, Razzak collaborated with the College of Physicians and Surgeons Pakistan (CPSP) to organise a curriculum for the specialised field. The first batch for this course was enrolled last year. Now students wanting to specialise in emergency medicine will be able to obtain certification in their chosen field, without having to travel abroad....
http://tribune.com.pk/story/300042/positive-pakistani-call-of-duty/
Here are parts of an Express Tribune report on the Inst of Business Admin in Karachi:
About 89% graduates of the latest batch of MBAs have already found jobs, said Dr Ishrat Husain, dean and director of the Institute of Business Administration (IBA), while addressing the 12th convocation of the institute here on Friday.
He said recent IBA MBAs received on average the monthly salary of Rs42,000, which was significantly higher than what the graduates of other business schools received.
As for the BBA programme, Husain said 74% graduates had found jobs as of November. “Ten per cent of the BBA graduates have joined family businesses, 7% decided to pursue higher studies, and only 9% are currently looking for jobs.”
He said the average monthly salary of an IBA graduate with a BBA degree was Rs33,000.
“The BBA is now a terminal degree, and BBA graduates will henceforth be entering the job market as management trainees,” he said.
Talking to The Express Tribune, MBA graduate Taha Ekram said half of his classmates had received multiple job offers before graduation. Ekram, who now works for a fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) company as a researcher, said IBA had undergone significant changes during the past three years. “Things are getting better. Standards have improved, and IBA’s reputation is more established now.”
He said the banking sector did not absorb as many IBA graduates this year as it did during the past many years. “They’re apparently not hiring this year. Banks used to be the major employers of IBA graduates. But most jobs were on the marketing side this year,” Ekram said.
He said that although the average salary MBA graduates received was Rs42,000, the figure didn’t reflect the accurate job market situation. “While some graduates are getting Rs80,000 a month, there’re actually quite a few graduates who’re getting just a little over Rs30,000.”
A total of 610 candidates received their bachelor’s, master’s and PhD degrees. About 33% of the graduates were women.
For the first time, IBA awarded a PhD degree this year: Quratulain Nizamuddin received a doctorate degree in computer science.
Terming 2011 the best year in his three-and-a-half-year tenure at IBA, Husain said it was the “year of progress and execution” because of the culmination of a series of initiatives that would make IBA the top business school in Asia.
He said IBA recently received accreditation by the South Asia Quality Assurance System (SAQS). It is the second business school of Pakistan after the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) to have received the SAQS accreditation....
http://tribune.com.pk/story/301378/iba-says-goodbye-to-batch-of-2011-barely-out-of-school-and-landing-in-their-first-jobs/
Here's an Express Tribune story on the state of higher education in Pakistan:
....“To create a knowledge capital, particularly in an emerging economy, a country has to invest heavily in the education sector,” said Dr Laghari, citing examples of South Korea, Singapore and more recently of Thailand, Malaysia, Turkey and Indonesia, who invested in education and made significant progress. Sadly, he said, Pakistan invests only 0.7% of its Gross Domestic Product in education, “which is too meagre to achieve its future goals”.
Dr Laghari said we need at least 15,000 PhDs in the next decade, which is only possible if more than 1,000 PhDs are produced every year. However, he said within the available budget we are hardly producing 600 PhDs annually.
---------
Dr Laghari said that at least 20 to 30% of the population aged 17 to 23 should have accessibility to the higher education, but in Pakistan only 7.8% have this facility. In the Muslim world, 27% population in the given age group in Indonesia has access to higher education, in Malaysia it’s 30% and in Turkey it is 37%, he added. He cited that Brazil has invested $26 billion on its higher education and is expected to produce 75,000 PhDs in the next ten years.
--------
But despite outlining the issues marring education in Pakistan, Dr Laghari dispelled the impression that the higher education sector is stagnant.
He said that in spite of the financial crunch, HEC has succeeded in improving the quality of education and research. He said that rate of enrolment in higher education is growing by 15 to 20% annually, and published research is increasing 20 to 25% annually.
He said that 10 offices of research innovation have already been set up and another 12 are in the pipeline. Moveover, three centres of advanced studies focusing on water, agriculture and energy are currently being established at different universities, which are priority areas for developing countries like Pakistan, he added.
HEC is focusing on promoting a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship in universities and has defined their roles in building economies, communities and leadership, said Dr Laghari. As a result, he said research output has increased significantly in the last few years and so has as the number of PhD graduates. He said although the commission could not send a single person abroad for PhD last year, this year it managed to send abroad 600 to 700 scholars.
“The biggest challenge for higher education is improving both the quality of education and research, which is only possible if the sector gets appropriate funding,” he maintained. The HEC chief said the commission has gotten some financial respite from the World Bank, which recently loaned it $300 million, in addition to funds from USAID and the British Council.
He said funds allocated to the HEC last year were insufficient, and warned of massive protests by employees across the country if they are not paid their raised salaries.
http://tribune.com.pk/story/312462/laghari-calls-for-heavy-investment-in-higher-education-disapproves-of-commercialisation/
Here's an Express Tribune story on a new business school in Karachi:
Sitting in the corporate office of the Karachi School for Business and Leadership (KSBL), an upcoming graduate management school being established in the financial capital of Pakistan in collaboration with Judge Business School of the University of Cambridge, Dean Robert Wheeler III spoke at length as to why Karachi needed yet another business school.
“No doubt, IBA and LUMS are outstanding business schools. But the academia isn’t like a corporation, it’s not about winning or losing,” Wheeler told The Express Tribune in an interview. “Pakistan needs more top-level business schools, it needs more leaders.”
Having served at the Pennsylvania State University, University of Texas at Austin and Georgetown University in key positions like assistant dean and director of MBA programmes, Wheeler has been associated with KSBL for the past two years. Spread over three acres, a dedicated campus of KSBL is currently under construction on main Stadium Road in Karachi. The construction phase will be over in July 2012 and the first intake of students will be in September. Initially, KSBL will offer a full-time, 21-month MBA programme in general management only.
“Our emphasis is on ethical leadership. It’s not about being right or wrong. It’s about making difficult choices,” he said, adding that KSBL would make an extra effort to infuse students with social responsibility. “We’ll work with students to help them stay here in Pakistan after they graduate, to make them realise that they owe something to this society.”
The MBA curriculum has been designed in collaboration with Judge Business School. Besides conventional teaching methods involving lectures and case studies, KSBL will use videoconferencing to let its students attend live lectures from American and British universities.
“We’re wiring the entire building for videoconferencing so that CEOs from London, Singapore and the US could show up on videoconferencing,” he said, adding that the campus would benefit from natural light optimisation, as more than 70% of the rooms would have natural lighting.
Wheeler said the core faculty of KSBL would be of Pakistani origin with PhD degrees from foreign universities. “We’ll cut back on the administrative work that faculty is often required to do in Pakistan and encourage them to do applied research that could be used in the industry, government and business.” In many classes, especially those on entrepreneurship, Wheeler said more than one person would co-teach students via videoconferencing to provide them with a combination of academic and professional perspectives.
‘Intrapreneurship’
Referring to corporate entrepreneurship, or intrapreneurship meaning working like an entrepreneur within an organisation, Wheeler said the traditional role of an entrepreneur was changing, as big corporations were now looking for business graduates with entrepreneurial mindset.
As for the admission process at KSBL, he said prospective students would be judged on their GMAT scores, GPAs, essays and interview performance. “We’ll have a holistic approach. We want to produce team players, people who can get along with others. You need to fulfil certain requirements, but high scores only shouldn’t guarantee your admission.”
Rejecting the idea that working with the bureaucracy is particularly difficult in Pakistan, Wheeler said the United States was equally bureaucratic. “We’re right on track. Things are going well. The construction phase will be over in July.”
http://tribune.com.pk/story/315063/pakistan-needs-more-top-level-business-schools/
Here's an excerpt from Malaysia's Bernama news agency report:
..for Pakistan, the education sector is also a priority. Apart from increase in trade during the year, the number of Pakistani students studying in Malaysia increased to over 3,000 students.
"This was due to more linkages established between the universities of both countries," Pakistani High Commissioner to Malaysia Masood Khalid told Bernama.
http://www.bernama.com.my/bernama/v6/newsindex.php?id=638491
Here's an Express Tribune report on 2012-2013 Fulbright scholar program in Pakistan:
Amid strained ties and mutual mistrust, the United States Educational Foundation in Pakistan has announced the world’s largest Fulbright programme in Pakistan for the 2013.
The US government’s flagship scholarship programme awards deserving Pakistani students full scholarships that cover tuition, textbooks, airfare, a stipend, and health insurance to complete their Master’s or PhD degrees in a field of their choice in universities across the US. Currently, approximately 369 students are studying in the US on Fulbright awards and another 200 will be departing in the fall of 2012.
According to Ambassador Richard Hoagland, deputy chief of mission, Pakistan’s Fulbright programme is also one of the oldest in the world. “Our agreement initiating the programme was signed on September 23, 1950 – and the first Pakistanis and Americans travelled each way in the same year. It was one of the very first agreements of its kind and has since been extended to 155 countries around the world.”
Since then, nearly 4,000 Pakistanis and over 800 Americans have participated in USEFP-administered exchange programmes.
The deadline to apply for the 2013 programme is May 16, 2012, and the application form can be downloaded from the USEFP’s website www.usefpakistan.org.
http://tribune.com.pk/story/334528/fulbright-scholarships-us-launches-worlds-largest-programme-in-pakistan/
Here's a Dawn report on Education Expo 2012 held in Karachi:
Thousands of students desiring to pursue their further education overseas flocked to the 9th two-day Annual Education Expo 2012, organised by the Dawn Media Group, which opened at the Expo Centre in Gulshan-i-Iqbal on Saturday.
According to a representative of the organizers, the exhibition, in which over 160 local and international educational institutions are participating, would remain open on Sunday as well from 11am to 7pm.
Entry to the exhibition is free.
He said the exhibition, an annual event, had regularly been held for the past nine years. The current exhibition was earlier held in Islamabad and Lahore before it moved to the city. He said about 80 per cent of the 160 institutions at the expo were international.
The countries whose educational institutions are participating in the event include Australia, the United Kingdom, Germany, Ireland, Turkey, Hong Kong, Canada and the United States. Malaysia and Northern Cyprus are new entrants to the exhibition.
He said the exhibition provided opportunities to students to meet the faculty, admission officers and career councilors directly, and get enrolled on the spot with many of the institutions.
The event, as every year, has been scheduled at a time which coincides with the admission drive in educational institutions and is attracting students from various academies seeking information, coordination and enrolment details from the participating institutions.
Besides the education institutions, various governments, including the US, the UK, Australia and Canada had also set up stalls to promote educational opportunities in their respective countries. Some consultants that provide guidance to students seeking overseas education are also participating in the exhibition.
He said last year over 10,000 students had visited the expo in which around 120 educational institutions had participated.
http://www.dawn.com/2012/02/12/dawn-education-show-attracts-big-crowds.html
Here's an APP story on Cambridge Graduate Union headed by a Pakistani student:
A Pakistani student Arsalan Ghani from Faisalabad has been elected as the President of the Cambridge University Graduate Union. He will lead the student union representing 12,000 MA, M Phil and PhD students studying at Cambridge University. This is the first time ever, in the over 800-year history of the Cambridge University that a Pakistani student has been elected as the President of the Graduate Union.
http://tribune.com.pk/story/348432/cambridge-university-pakistani-student-heads-graduate-union/
US invites Pakistani students over for study, reports Daily Times:
LAHORE: US Public Affairs Officer Brinille Eliane Ellis has said that encouraging Pakistani students to study in the United States is one of their top priories, and a great way to foster better understanding between the two countries.
He said this at the two-day US-funded South Asian US College education fair held at the Forman Christian College (FCC).
The fair featured four representatives from the US higher education institutions.
Students from across Punjab, especially Lahore, obtained information about student life and studying opportunities in the United States directly from the representatives.
EducationUSA, a US State Department-funded global network of student advising centres, organised the event.
Also on hand were representatives from the University of Buffalo in Buffalo, New York, the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls, Iowa, the Valparaiso University in Valparaiso, Indiana, and the Educational Credential Evaluators from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, who joined the tour to demonstrate the unique benefits of a US university education.
This is the second South Asian annual education fair tour organised by EducationUSA. Last year, US university representatives travelled across the region from Sri Lanka to Bangladesh to Nepal and then to Pakistan. The programme was so successful that it was repeated again this year, while Afghanistan was also included in the list of countries.
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2012\04\13\story_13-4-2012_pg7_15
Pakistan is world's fifth largest source of visitors to UK seeking visa, according to The News:
KARACHI: Pakistan is the fifth largest country to apply for British visas, a diplomat said on Tuesday.
Pakistan is providing huge source of revenue in the shape of students in the UK, said Ms Mandy Ivemy, a senior British diplomat.
Visa issuance ratio to Pakistanis is around 75 percent, which is high against other countries, said Ivemy, Regional Manager for Gulf, Iran and Pakistan, United Kingdom’s Border Agency based in British High Commission in Islamabad at a meeting with members of the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI).
“Every year Pakistanis make around one million journeys to the UK to meet their relatives, for business purposes or to take education,” she said.
“Owing to huge number of applications, the agency was responsible to take a lot of checks, while processing applications,” she added.
http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-3-103525-Pakistan-fifth-largest-country-to-apply-for-British-visas
Pakistan has become top education market for Australia in vocational training, reports The Australian:
PAKISTAN has become the top growth market in the struggling international education industry, even though revenue from its neighbour India fell almost $1 billion in a single year.
New Australian Bureau of Statistics figures reveal that Australia's fourth-biggest export industry is turning to new markets to counter a $2.2bn loss of revenue last year.
Experts say some of the new students are attracted to Australia by the prospect of working or even claiming refugee status.
Earnings from the top 12 markets all fell last year, topped by India, which slumped by 37 per cent, but Pakistan bucked the trend, with revenue rising 15 per cent to $253 million.
The Philippines was the only other significant market to record an increase, with earnings rising 13 per cent to $205m. All other top 25 markets experienced declines.
Revenue from Pakistan has risen steadily, more than tripling over the past five years. Earnings from the boom-bust Indian market have almost halved in two years, collapsing from a 2009 peak of $3.1bn.
Shabbir Ahmad, a PhD economics student at the University of Queensland, said fellow Pakistanis were being lured to Australia by the availability of scholarships from both countries.
Dr Shabbir, who is studying for his second doctorate, said he had come to Australia because the leading academics in his field -- efficiency and productivity analysis -- were based here.
He said while his family had been denied public health and schooling in Australia, the overall experience had been positive. "As far as the academic environment goes, I'm very happy, and people are very welcoming," he said.
However, international education researcher Alan Olsen said the growth in the Pakistani market was in vocational training, not top-end higher education.
Mr Olsen said that while the number of Pakistani students had increased by about 1200 last year, private vocational students had claimed about 1000 of them.
International Education Association of Australia executive director Phil Honeywood said some colleges had moved staff to Pakistan to help meet the demand. He said most Pakistani students came for genuine educational purposes, but significant numbers were here for work and residency opportunities in a peaceful country. "It's dangerous in Pakistan," said Mr Honeywood, a former Victorian tertiary education minister.
He said many Pakistanis studied for business diplomas at private colleges at a cost of about $9000. This gave them advance standing in university degrees, which in turn conferred the right to work for two years in Australia after graduating...
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/higher-education/pakistan-bucks-student-trend/story-e6frgcjx-1226356707116
Here's an APP report on China-Pakistan "education diplomacy":
Lauding the successful holding of joint workshop by two prominent higher learning institutions of Pakistan and China, Ambassador Masood Khan has said the exchanges are ‘now moving into hi-tech areas’. “As a result of the decision taken by the leadership on both sides, in coming years collaboration in the field of basic sciences including Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics will increase many folds,” said Khan while addressing a reception hosted for a joint delegation of COMSATS and Tsinghua University here at Pakistan Embassy Thursday.
Ambassador Khan said Pakistan-China relations are increasingly under pinned in educational context, adding that “educational diplomacy is what will bring the youths and professionals of the two countries closer.”
Regarding holding of a joint workshop, Ambassador Khan termed it as a good beginning, as Tshingua is prestigious university well known all around the world. He said the interface between the two sides is good.
Ambassador Khan appreciated the decision that in next step, the CCIT will invite a 50-member delegation of Tshinghua University to visit Pakistan.
Exchange of delegations in the realm of education between the countries, is best form of diplomacy, he added.
He said COMSATS provides enabling environment where students have ambition and passion for gaining latest knowledge.
Under an MoU signed by both the universities, exchanges of students and faculty members and research in cutting edge educational technologies will be carried out.
Earlier the 17-member COMSATS delegation gave presentations on research study carried out in different areas. The delegation also visited the Technology Park of the University.
Professor Qi Kun Xue, Dean School of Sciences, Professor Qing Wang, Chairman Department of Physics and Professor Arshad Bhatti, Dean Faculty of Sciences COMSATS also addressed the reception.
Established a decade ago, COMSATS has seven campuses in Pakistan in which over 22,000 students are getting modern education, said Professor Bhatti.
The delegation is scheduled to leave for Pakistan Friday evening.
http://app.com.pk/en_/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=195765&Itemid=2
Here's PakistanTribune on US research grants to Pakistanis study economic development:
Twenty-two Pakistani scholars have been awarded a total of $490,000 worth of grants by the United States government for research on various fields related to economic development and markets.
The 22 winning proposals were selected from more than 180 research applications from all over the country and abroad. The selection was made by a 15-member committee consisting of internationally acclaimed scholars with extensive research experience in Pakistan and abroad, says a press release.
"This is yet another example of the US support for Pakistan's development priorities. We believe that this research will help lay foundations to the growth of Pakistan's economy, thus contributing to a more prosperous future for the people of this country," US embassy coordinator Richard Albright said.
http://paktribune.com/news/US-provides-490000-for-research-on-economic-uplift-250438.html
Here's a Dawn story on Pak students in US:
Focusing on around five Pakistanis studying in the US, the documentary captured similar stories from students of diverse backgrounds, coming from areas like FATA, Hyderabad and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Light in tone, it first captured the awkward questions Pakistani students had to face. “Are there roads in Pakistan,” “Are the coffee shops there similar to here,” and in a more serious vein, “Why don’t you cover your face?” and so on.
One American lady revealed that she honestly thought the Pakistani student might bomb the classroom, but that impression changed over time.
Similarly, touching on political overtones, a student, Hammad Ali Khan, said he was worried that once he landed at an airport in US, his green passport would get him harassed by the airport security. But some of the adjustment was culture related. An American teacher stated that students from Pakistan treat professors like god and hesitate to ask questions, but with time they learn that discussion with teachers is encouraged in the American context and open up with time.
Finding halal food can become problematic for students in the US, hence converting them into vegetarians. A student suggested that with tomatoes, chick peas and other ingredients, if one is innovative, an improvised “channa chat” can be made. “Spoken like a true Pakistani,” commented one audience member.The students also acknowledged the strengths of both countries. Kiran Rajput from Hyderabad appreciated the respect and freedom given to the minorities to practise their religion in Pakistan and in US.
And Irfan Ullah, a student struggling with polio, shared that there are many opportunities there for the disabled and he is empowered in an environment where he is not treated any less than others. The documentary displayed that students are ambassadors of their respective countries, families and cultures. Some residents of the US realised that not everything their media showed was true as they were confronted only to negativities in the case of Pakistan – drone attacks, suicide bombings – and all the cultural, educational and development aspects were not showered any light on.
http://dawn.com/2012/07/07/pakistani-students-abroad-make-nation-proud/
Here's a News story on 90 French scholarship for Pakistani students:
Under need-based scholarship programme, the French government will support 90 promising students of six Pakistani universities in the fields of social science, business and architecture.
In this regard, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between France government and the Higher Education Commission of Pakistan (HEC) at French Embassy on Thursday. Ambassador of France Philippe Thiébaud and Chairperson HEC Dr Javaid R. Laghari along with vice chancellors of the corresponding universities and institutions signed the MoU.
France, through its Embassy in Islamabad, will offer scholarships to 90 promising students primarily from FATA, KPK and Baluchistan to pursue their education in top universities and institutions of Pakistan.
The universities include Quaid-E-Azam University, Islamabad, COMSATS Institute of Technology, Islamabad, Government College University, Lahore, Institute of Management Sciences, IMS Peshawar, Institute of Business and Management, Karachi and Sardar Bahadur Khan Women University, Quetta.
The scholarships awards are designed to cover the complete cost of education during the entire academic program of the 90 recipients (e.g.2-4 years for the MBA, BBA and Social Sciences) for a total cost of Rs23 millions.
The selection process will ensure that at least 25 per cent of the awarded scholarships go to girls, especially those coming from areas where the access to higher education is difficult.
Speaking on the occasion, French Ambassador Philippe Thiébaud, termed higher education key area in the bilateral relationship of both countries. He said that this scholarship grant scheme will further strengthen the close and long term bilateral friendship between the Pakistan and French governments.
Chairperson HEC Dr Javaid R. Laghari said that the HEC is committed to provide equitable access to the higher education in Pakistan and a number of practical steps have been taken in this regard. He also extended thanks and appreciated the gesture of the government and people of France.
http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-6-121665-France-to-sponsor-education-of-90-students
Here's a News story on 200 Pakistani students going for a semester abroad under UGRAD program:
A pre-departure orientation workshop was organised by the United States Educational Foundation in Pakistan (USEFP) for departing students here on Wednesday evening.
Students were briefed by the USEFP on the programme, visa regulations, American culture and US higher education and campus life. All students would return to Pakistan to complete their bachelor’s degrees. As many as 200 undergraduate students from all parts of Pakistan will be departing over the next year for a semester of study at colleges and universities in the US as part of the Global Undergraduate Programme (UGRAD) in Pakistan. As many as 100 will travel in August-September for the fall semester and an additional 100 will go to the US in January 2013.
An initiative of the US Department of State, the UGRAD programme will send Pakistani students to over 50 campuses in the US where they will take classes along with American students, do public presentations on the culture and people of Pakistan, and be an active part of the local community they will be staying in. Since the programme began in 2010, approximately 500 Pakistani students have participated. The fellowships cover all expenses for the students including travel, lodging, stipend, and tuition.
“To see so many impressive Pakistani young people — each of you an incredibly talented representative of this great nation’s bright future — is inspiring,” said Brent Beemer, cultural attache at the US Embassy, who addressed the group, “To think that my country has had some role in advancing your education and helping your nation’s prospects makes me feel very good, and even proud.”
“The really exciting thing about this group of undergraduates is that so many of these students come from remote or economically disadvantaged areas of Pakistan. The group includes students from every province of Pakistan and 52 per cent are women. The students come from a wide variety of disciplines, including humanities and social science subjects, engineering, basic sciences, law, art and design, economics, and business administration,” said Rita Akhtar, Executive Director of the USEFP...
http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-6-121671-200-undergraduates-to-leave-for-US
Here's a Wall Street Journal story of recent influx of Saudi students in US:
In the years following the security crackdown on Arab travelers after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks—in which 15 of the 19 hijackers were Saudi Arabian—tough restrictions kept most Arab students away from the U.S. In 2004, only about 1,000 Saudis were studying in the U.S., according to the U.S. State Department.
This past school year, Saudi Arabia sent 66,000 students to U.S. universities, four times the number before the 2001 attacks and the fastest-growing source of foreign students in the U.S., ahead of China, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education. The Saudi influx is part of a broader increase in international students in the U.S. as American universities seek to raise tuition revenues. Some 723,277 foreign students enrolled during the 2010-2011 school year, up 32% from a decade ago.
----
Saudi Arabia's international scholarship program, launched when Saudi King Abdullah took the throne in 2005, is a key part of his efforts to equip future generations in handling the country's main challenges, including a fast-growing population and declining oil reserves.
Since taking over, the Saudi king has emphasized scientific education and exposure to foreign countries as keys to combat religious extremism and transform Saudi Arabia into a modern state. This year, the scholarship program has about 130,000 young people studying around the world, at an estimated cost of at least $5 billion since the program began.
The king's efforts to modernize, including the scholarship program, have led to constant tension between Western-influenced Saudis and a religiously educated core who hold heavy sway over society and reject modernization because it is associated with the West.
----------
As late as the 1950s, Saudi Arabia had a literacy rate below 5%. Today, the percentage of literate Saudis has reached 79%, according to the CIA World Factbook. One-third have university degrees, the World Bank says.
Even so, religious conservatives have a lingering influence over curriculum. Critics say Saudi schooling is long on theology and short on science and math. The kingdom ranked 93rd out of 129 countries in UNESCO'S 2008 quality of education index.
In the past, only upper class Saudis were educated abroad. The king's scholarship program, by contrast, reaches out to promising young people in all levels of society, says Ahmed al Omran, a Saudi journalist who earned a master's from Columbia University.
At the graduation ceremony in Washington in May, Saudi degree recipients ranged from second-generation U.S. graduates, to the first in their families to read and write.
To be eligible for the program, students must have top grades and generally study in a field targeted by the government—such as business, engineering or medicine. Females are required to be accompanied by a close male relative. The government urges students to avoid political activity and media attention, students say.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304830704577492450467667154.html
Here's a BR report on HEC sponsored research scholars:
Higher Education Commission (HEC) has awarded 1647 scholarships to PhD scholars, studying in higher education institutions of Pakistan, for undertaking research at top ranking universities of 37 academically advanced countries.
The scholarships has been awarded under International Research Support Initiative Programme (IRSIP).
These foreign scholarships have been awarded in all the major disciplines including physical sciences, agriculture and veterinary sciences, biological and medical sciences, social sciences, management sciences and engineering.
It was informed during the 22nd meeting of IRSIP award committee which was presided over by the Executive Director HEC, Prof. Dr. Sohail H. Naqvi.
The meeting was apprised that through this innovative programme, HEC is offering six month research fellowship abroad to full time PhD students enrolled in Pakistan to enhance their research capabilities.
It is of utmost importance that the doctoral studies carried out in Pakistan are of a standard that is at par with any international reputed institution. This is only possible if candidates are provided with adequate support in research projects.
The indigenous PhD students sometimes face problems in research due to paucity of resources therefore the scheme is helping to provide doctoral students exposure internationally so they could carry out research projects of high standard.
It was also informed that the scheme is also assisting ongoing Indigenous PhD programmes by providing a mechanism for PhD scholars to travel abroad and conduct research in academically advanced countries.
This is providing exposure to the PhD scholars which will enhance the quality of research that they will be conducting in Pakistan.
The programme has also been greatly helpful to develop academic linkages between Pakistani and leading foreign institutions. The fellowship package covers travel, bench fee and living expenditure.
As an outcome of this programme, the number of international research publications by Pakistani scholars has been increased from 304 to 662 with 117% increase while the number of local publications has also been increased from 380 to 552 with 45% increase.
The Executive Director HEC and participants of the meeting appreciated the outcome of the programme and termed it as flagship programme of the HEC.
The establishment of the HEC in September 2002 has heralded a revolution in higher education in Pakistan; the HEC has accomplished more in nine years since its establishment than was achieved in the first 55 years of Pakistan's existence.
In Pakistan, under the HEC, in addition to quality reforms, there has been a strong resurgence of research and innovation.
In particular, there is a significant growth in the number of PhDs awarded out of Pakistani universities.
As a result of phenomenal increase in research publications, the world share of Pakistan's research has gone up by 300 percent in the last five years.
http://www.brecorder.com/pakistan/general-news/72612.html
Here's a report on foreign students as a lucrative source:
Most people don’t think of foreign students as an economic resource, yet that is precisely what they are. Each year, students from other countries spend billions of dollars in the U.S. economy, pumping money not only into the colleges and universities they attend, but the surrounding businesses as well. In addition, many foreign students go on to become highly innovative scientists, engineers, and entrepreneurs who add value to the U.S. economy in myriad ways that are often difficult to quantify. Given the economic value of the education they receive in U.S. universities, it is unfortunate that so many foreign students are forced by our nonsensical immigration policies to return to their home countries rather than putting their knowledge to use in this country.
According to a new report from NAFSA: Association of International Educators, “international students and their dependents contributed approximately $21.81 billion to the U.S. economy during the 2011-2012 academic year.” More precisely, the monetary contributions of foreign students and their families consisted of $15.8 billion in students’ tuition and fees, $14 billion in students’ living expenses, and $397 million in living expenses for their dependents. Subtracted out of the total was U.S.-based financial support of $8.4 billion. Spending by students and their dependents totaled $3.2 billion in California, $2.6 billion in New York, $1.5 billion in Massachusetts, $1.4 billion in Texas, $1.1 billion in Pennsylvania, and $1 billion in Illinois. In the modest words of the NAFSA report: “By any measure, international education makes a significant contribution to the U.S. economy.”
However, as the report notes, the “$21.81 billion” figure is a conservative estimate that does not include the “multiplier effect” which spending by foreign students has on the U.S. economy. That is, some of the money spent by foreign students becomes someone else’s income, some of which is also spent, becoming a portion of someone else’s income, etc. Just as importantly, the NAFSA estimate doesn’t capture the contributions which many foreign students go on to make as part of the high-skilled U.S. workforce and the U.S. business community. For instance, the National Science Board estimates that, in 2009, immigrants accounted for 41.6% of all science-and-engineering workers in the United States who had a doctorate and 33.4 percent those with a master’s degree. According to a report from the Brooking Institution, “among people with advanced degrees, immigrants are three times more likely to file patents than U.S.-born citizens.” And a report from the Kauffman Foundation found that “immigrants were more than twice as likely to start businesses each month than were the native-born in 2010.”
In short, $21.81 billion in spending is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to measuring the economic contributions of foreign students. Given this fact, it is mind-boggling that so many foreign students are forced to return home after completing their studies in U.S. universities. In many cases, the United States is training workers for its own economic competitors. This does not make good business sense. A more enlightened immigration policy would encourage foreign students to stay in the United States and put their knowledge to use strengthening the U.S. economy. Perhaps lawmakers can put this on their “to do” list as they contemplate immigration reform over the coming year.
http://immigrationimpact.com/2012/11/20/foreign-students-add-billions-of-dollars-to-the-u-s-economy-each-year-and-thats-just-the-beginning/
Here's a News report on decline in Pakistani students going to the UK:
LONDON: There has been a significant drop in the number of genuine applications for studying in the UK universities from Pakistani students since the introduction of harsh immigration policies and vilification of immigrants under the new Conservative-LibDem coalition government.
Chief Executive of Universities UK, Nicola Dandridge, said that universities are reporting a significant drop in the number of students applying from overseas, particularly from India, Pakistan, China and Saudi Arabia but Pakistani students are not only discouraged by the UK’s immigration crackdown but they also face disproportionate treatment from the immigration officers who process their applications in Dubai and during face-to-face interviews conducted in Pakistan.
She said that crackdown on bogus foreign students have driven large numbers of genuine overseas applicants to competitor countries, damaging not only universities but also the UK economy.
She said the senior ministers calling for a crackdown on “bogus students” had given the impression that overseas students were no longer welcome and was driving them towards competitor countries such as the US, Canada and Australia.
Home Secretary Theresa May last month announced the introduction of face-to-face interviews for 100,000 applicants for student visas a year.
This means that most Pakistani applicants will have to face interviews in British High Commission in Islamabad. After 9/11 attacks on the United States by al-Qaeda, the number of students from Islamic countries, particularly Pakistanis, shot up as American officials started picking on Pakistani students and Britain was seen as a benign country but that is not the case anymore as Pakistani students, including visitor visa applicants, are also a suspect in the UK now and their applications are rejected on mass scale.
Overseas students are estimated to be worth GBP8bn a year to the British economy, a figure projected to rise to GBP16.8bn by 2025, according to a study by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. The Office for National Statistics’ figures released in November showed a 26% fall in the number of visas issued for the purposes of study in the year to September 2012 but Dandridge said “anecdotal evidence suggested the downward trend was set to accelerate.”
Pakistan was amongst the top ten nationalities issued entry clearance visas for the purpose of study in 2011. Of the total 261,405 student visas issued, 35,660 students visas were issued to Pakistani applicants. In 2010, the number of Pakistani students issued visas was 26,490.
But Pakistan is not included in the top ten nationalities for the year 2011 when a total of 61, 381 student visitors were issued with a visa for a maximum six-month duration. Nearly 70,000 people were issued student visitor visas in 2012 but Pakistan was not added in the top ten countries.
A home office spokesperson refused to share the reasons why Pakistanis were not amongst the top ten countries’ category but referred to a statement by Mark Harper, the immigration minister. It says: “The UK’s education system is one of the best in the world but to maintain this reputation it is vital that we tackle the abuse of the student route, while making sure Britain remains open for business.”
http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-2-153546-Student-applications-from-Pakistan-in-UK-drop
Here's an excerpt of a Dawn report on Pakistan's university education:
According to the OECD’s 2009 Global Education Digest, 6.3 per cent of Pakistanis were university graduates as of 2007. The government plans to increase this rate to 10 per cent by 2015 and 15 per cent by 2020. But the key challenges are readiness for growth of the educational infrastructure and support from public and private sector.
----------
According to 2008 statistics, Pakistan produces about 445,000 university graduates and 10,000 computer science graduates per year. Pakistan Telecom Authority indicates that as of 2008 there are nearly 22 million internet users and over 80 million mobile phone subscribers. A combination of all these educational and technological factors gives Pakistan great leverage to progress towards targeted curriculum development and dissemination through e-learning..
http://dawn.com/2011/02/28/towards-e-learning/
Here's an excerpt of OECD Global Education Digest 2009:
In 2007, 9% of all mobile students originated from South and West Asia. Overall, 1.5% of the region’s tertiary students go abroad, which is lower than the
global average. India, for example, accounts for 5.5% of
the global total of mobile students. Yet, its outbound
mobility ratio is very low with only 1 out of 100 tertiary
students from the country studying abroad. Outbound mobility ratios are generally low across the
region with the notable exceptions of Nepal (5%) and Pakistan (3%). In 2007, the outbound mobility ratio increased by 0.5 percentage points.
http://www.ifap.ru/library/book433.pdf
Here are a couple of links showing number of B, F and H visas issued by US worldwide:
F visas (student visas) to Pakistani citizens continue to be very low but increased from 1,224 in 2012 to 1,535 in 2013.
Similarly, H visas (temp work visas) remain very low but increased from 1238 in 2012 to 1,301 in 2013.
The largest number of non-immigrant visas issued to Pakistanis are business visa...B1 and B2. Such visas increased from 35,768 in 2012 to 39,701 in 2013.
Similar US visas issued to Indians are several orders of magnitude higher.
http://travel.state.gov/content/dam/visas/Statistics/AnnualReports/FY2012AnnualReport/FY12AnnualReport-TableXVII.pdf
http://travel.state.gov/content/dam/visas/Statistics/AnnualReports/FY2013AnnualReport/FY13AnnualReport-TableXVII.pdf
A group of 80 scholarship winners, bound for the United States to pursue masters degrees, gathered for a pre-departure orientation on Friday evening. The event was hosted by the United States Educational Foundation in Pakistan (USEFP) at a private hotel.
While congratulating the students, USEFP Executive Director Rita Akhtar said, “The USEFP is pleased to be able to help talented Pakistani students like you, achieve admission to US colleges and universities. US colleges and universities welcome Pakistani students as they add to the already-rich diversity in the classroom.”
The event was a networking platform designed to prepare the students for their educational experience. Since its beginning, the USEFP has helped thousands of Pakistani students achieve their dreams of US higher education through its scholarship programmes and free-of-charge advisory services.
Education USA Advising Manager Umair Khan offered some tips to the students. He explained that professor-student relations were less formal in the United States than in Pakistani universities.
http://tribune.com.pk/story/734928/all-my-bags-are-packed-eighty-pakistani-students-all-set-for-their-voyage/
Around 10,000 Pakistani students will be awarded scholarships to study in different universities of Europe in the year 2015 by the European Union Education Foundation (EUEF). The first entries to the programme will be from Sindh, The Express Tribune has learnt.
“We are waiting for the final proposal from the provincial [Sindh] government,” revealed the EUEF director of scholarships programme, Yvonne Hunter. “The government is interested [this time] and I hope the plan will materialise soon.”
During her visit to Karachi last week, Hunter explained that the EUEF was established to promote higher education in developing countries. “Our aim is help in community development through self-sufficiency in the education sector by providing students from developing countries easy access to higher studies in Europe.”
The scholarship programme is not new to Pakistan. According to Azfar Bukhari who is the project manager and media co-ordinator for EUEF, they had tried to launch the programme two years ago but had been unsuccessful. “This time, however, the government is more interested,” said Bukhari hopefully.
Speaking to The Express Tribune, Hunter said that her team has been assured of full cooperation by the Sindh government to make the programme a success. “Apart from the Sindh government, the government of Balochistan as well as the federal government are keen to participate,” she said. “In Pakistan, everything is very easily politicised so we want to ensure our efforts are not used as part of an electoral campaign by some political party.”
In response to a query regarding the level of interference and assistance required of the government, Hunter said: “Of course we need their assistance, but not at the cost of transparency and credibility.” She maintained that the government will only be brought on as stakeholders if they assure the EUEF of unbiased work. “We want to make the programme a success without making it controversial.”
According to the director, the foundation will award scholarships to up to 10,000 eligible students every year. These scholarships will be honoured in universities and colleges already affiliated with the EUEF across Europe. “Not to forget these scholarships will be valid till the end of the study programme, not just for the first term.”
The students will be given ample choice to select from both graduate and postgraduate degrees and higher national diplomas. The eligibility to apply to the programme is HSC or GCE A level, without a gap of more than a year during the candidate’s regular studies.
The applicants have to appear for a simple aptitude test that will be conducted by the National Testing Service. This is to test basic knowledge and English language skills. The first 10,000 high scorers will be awarded the scholarships. “We have kept the selection procedure simple and transparent to avoid any controversies. We want to accommodate as many students as possible.” Hunter explained.
According to the EUEF office bearers, the programme aims to enable Pakistani students to study abroad so that they can gain exposure of developed countries making them less vulnerable to volatile issues in their home country. “We are offering 10,000 scholarships every year for the next five years, which makes it 50,000 by the culmination of our project.” The programme will ultimately provide Pakistan with 50,000 highly skilled professionals by the time it concludes.
http://tribune.com.pk/story/744354/study-abroad-10000-pakistani-students-to-be-given-scholarships-to-study-in-europe-in-2015/
http://www.eueducationfoundation.eu/
KARACHI: As many as 14 universities from Australia opened their doors for Pakistani students for Bachelors, Masters and Doctor of Philosophy programmes at the Pakistan-Australian Education Expo 2015 on Saturday.
Every year more than 400 students fly to Australia from Pakistan through Australian Education Office (AEO) Pakistan for higher education. “Today we are expecting more than 250 students to avail the walk-in opportunity to fulfil their dreams of studying abroad,” said AEO Pakistan chief executive officer and resident director Saad Mehmood.
The expo was arranged to guide students and motivate them to go abroad for higher studies. “We are here to help students in every way from the procedure of visa application to courses and accommodation details,” said Mehmood.
According to him, the percentage of students applying every year has increased during the last couple of years but only 20 per cent of females opt for studying for their Masters abroad. “We hope to see the number of female students rise as they are more competent, intelligent and promising,” he said.
The expo was open for everyone. Applicants were required to fill the ‘student assessment form’ at the entrance, providing their basic educational and personal details. The form helps the volunteers guide students about the desk he should move to in order to meet consultants for guidance or any other assistance. If the desk finds the applicant eligible and compassionate, they will provide her/him with two other forms to fill. One of these is a curriculum vitae and the other is a list of documents required for further processing of the application.
Muneeb Ahmed Warsi, a 23-year-old NED University graduate, came to the expo with the dream of studying in Australia or Germany. “AEO Pakistan is doing a great job as they are giving us so many options under one roof,” said Warsi, who is looking for a university that offers a Master’s degree in telecommunication engineering.
Shahzeb Anwar, another NED student, said he wished to see more education expo shows in Pakistan from different countries. “A majority of my seniors went abroad for their Master’s and returned to serve Pakistan,” said the 22-year-old telecommunication engineer. “I also want to come back and earn a good living.”
Dr Chris Daly of the University of New South Wales (UNSW) shared his experience with The Express Tribune of working with international students. “I am working with international students since 1995 and have seen the numbers of students increasing tremendously every year,” he said. “Twenty-five per cent of the total enrolment in UNSW is that of international students.”
Latrobe University marketing and admissions director Neil Fitzroy was of the view that Pakistani students are strong and capable. “This is why we are interested in getting a larger number of them at our campus,” he said, adding that he has been working with Pakistani students for more than ten years. Counting on his experience, he appreciated that how, despite cultural and religious differences, Pakistan has always given them the best students.
http://tribune.com.pk/story/831285/choose-the-best-pakistan-australian-education-expo-2015-offers-many-options-under-one-roof/
Some international students have the right to work here after graduation for two or more years.
“There is a ticking time bomb on post-study work rights visas, which are being seen as the route to a fast track to migration,” Mr Honeywood said. “Numbers out of India have doubled in the past 12 months. They are not rorting the system, but have the perception post-study work rights will lead to permanent residency, and that is totally wrong.”
China remains by far the biggest source of overseas students, with 153,000 in 2014 — almost one-third of all international students. Government data shows several countries in addition to India have seen big spikes in enrolments. They include Nepal, up 27 per cent on 2013, Pakistan, up 16 per cent, Hong Kong, up 22 per cent, The Philippines, up 21 per cent and Taiwan, up 24 per cent. Mr Honeywood said Australia was still in need of an overarching strategy and independent advisory council, much like Tourism Australia, as recommended in a 2012 review by Michael Chaney.
While the government said last year it had accepted all 35 recommendations of the review, no official response has been released and only seven recommendations have been implemented.
Mr Honeywood said there was little or no co-ordination between the various ministries with responsibility for the sector: education, trade, foreign affairs and immigration. “We have this constant issue of federal government departments in splendid isolation making decisions that impact the sector without adequate consultation,” he said.
A spokesman for Education Minister Christopher Pyne said a draft national strategy was due for release this year. “The government is also planning a number of ministerial roundtables,” he said.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/foreign-students-bring-in-16bn-to-australia/story-e6frg6n6-1227207034946
A two-day conference on Pakistan featuring prominent speakers kicked off this Saturday at Harvard University in Cambridge, MA near Boston organised by the Harvard Pakistan Forum (HPF).
The inaugural conference last year, attended by over 250 students, academics and professionals, was themed “Pakistan of the Future” focusing on three crucial facets of Pakistan’s economy: public policy, international investment in the private sector and financial sector support.
The 2015 conference, ‘Rediscovering a Nation’, aims to “reevaluate our understanding of Pakistan’s past, its present, and its potential future” and invites students, academics, practitioners and community members to reassess their assumptions about Pakistan.
The organizers plan to make the conference an annual event.
Ahsan Jamil of the Aman Foundation, one of the main sponsors of the conference, says that the support “is aimed at harnessing the leadership talent of Pakistani students at Harvard, in the pursuit of their careers, to contribute in the development of Pakistan.”
The first keynote speech on Saturday was delivered by Dean and Director of Institute of Business Administration (IBA), Dr. Ishrat Husain, speaking on “Realizing Pakistan’s Economic Potential: Restructuring the Central Bank”.
Other keynote speakers include media entrepreneur Sultana Siddiqui (“Affecting Social Change Through the Arts”), Dr Sania Nishtar (“Health in Pakistan: A New Look”) and well known industrialist and philanthropist Hussain Dawood speaking on “The Entrepreneurial Spirit: Building an Empire”.
Other sessions on Saturday featured a panel discussion on “Entrepreneurship in Pakistan” including speakers like Badar Khushnood and Amir Wain. A discussion on “The Role of the Arts and Literature in a Future Pakistan” featured prominent artists including singers Arooj Aftab and Zeb Bangash, police officer turned novelist Omar Shahid Hamid, and British-Pakistani actor Nadia Manzoor.
Sunday’s sessions include “Pakistan and Afghanistan: Analyzing Foreign Policy and The Future of the Taliban” with Maleeha Lodhi, former ambassador to Pakistan Thomas W. Simmons, Jr., and Hassan Abbas. The “Successfully Impacting Policy Change” panel includes Ahsan Jamil, Samar Minallah Khan and Adil Najam.
http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-13-36680-Pakistan-conference-at-Harvard-University-kicks-off
A two-day conference on Pakistan featuring prominent speakers kicked off this Saturday at Harvard University in Cambridge, MA near Boston organised by the Harvard Pakistan Forum (HPF).
The inaugural conference last year, attended by over 250 students, academics and professionals, was themed “Pakistan of the Future” focusing on three crucial facets of Pakistan’s economy: public policy, international investment in the private sector and financial sector support.
The 2015 conference, ‘Rediscovering a Nation’, aims to “reevaluate our understanding of Pakistan’s past, its present, and its potential future” and invites students, academics, practitioners and community members to reassess their assumptions about Pakistan.
The organizers plan to make the conference an annual event.
Ahsan Jamil of the Aman Foundation, one of the main sponsors of the conference, says that the support “is aimed at harnessing the leadership talent of Pakistani students at Harvard, in the pursuit of their careers, to contribute in the development of Pakistan.”
The first keynote speech on Saturday was delivered by Dean and Director of Institute of Business Administration (IBA), Dr. Ishrat Husain, speaking on “Realizing Pakistan’s Economic Potential: Restructuring the Central Bank”.
Other keynote speakers include media entrepreneur Sultana Siddiqui (“Affecting Social Change Through the Arts”), Dr Sania Nishtar (“Health in Pakistan: A New Look”) and well known industrialist and philanthropist Hussain Dawood speaking on “The Entrepreneurial Spirit: Building an Empire”.
Other sessions on Saturday featured a panel discussion on “Entrepreneurship in Pakistan” including speakers like Badar Khushnood and Amir Wain. A discussion on “The Role of the Arts and Literature in a Future Pakistan” featured prominent artists including singers Arooj Aftab and Zeb Bangash, police officer turned novelist Omar Shahid Hamid, and British-Pakistani actor Nadia Manzoor.
Sunday’s sessions include “Pakistan and Afghanistan: Analyzing Foreign Policy and The Future of the Taliban” with Maleeha Lodhi, former ambassador to Pakistan Thomas W. Simmons, Jr., and Hassan Abbas. The “Successfully Impacting Policy Change” panel includes Ahsan Jamil, Samar Minallah Khan and Adil Najam.
http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-13-36680-Pakistan-conference-at-Harvard-University-kicks-off
#Pakistan tennis teens going abroad to study on sports scholarships at top universities http://tribune.com.pk/story/918285/tennis-pakistani-teens-ticket-to-foreign-universities/ …
On the tennis courts of a posh Islamabad country club, veteran coach Mahboob Khan drills his charges, but they aren’t dreaming of the pristine lawns of Wimbledon.
For these young Pakistanis, taking up tennis has a more practical application — as a ticket to a top US university on a sports scholarship.
In a 36-year coaching career Khan, still a striking, athletic figure at 65, has produced dozens of players who have played on the pro tour and in satellite events and represented Pakistan at the Davis and Fed cups.
But he says in recent years the trend has been for even the most promising youngsters to lower their ambitions and see the sport simply as a springboard to a college education they might otherwise struggle to afford.
His own daughter Sara Mahboob, 24, was number one in Pakistan for six years but quit competitive tennis to look for a job based on her sociology degree — from James Madison University in Virginia, US.
Her rival, Pakistan’s former number two Natasha Afridi followed a similar path, as did several other of their contemporaries.
The big hurdle is money. Financial support is crucial as a player tries to make the step from promising youngster to tour professional.
For Sara Mahboob, the lure of financial security offered by a scholarship and degree proved too great.
“It’s not very easy to get sponsors in Pakistan, especially for a female tennis player,” she said.
“So I had to make that tough decision on wether I was going to go pro or go to college, and going to college seemed like a better option.”
Pakistan’s best player is doubles specialist Aisamul Haq Qureshi who reached eight in the world doubles ranking in June 2011 but now lies 57th.
He reached the US Open doubles final in 2010 with Indian partner Rohan Bopanna, but a new generation of youngsters at the Islamabad Club courts show little interest in following in his footsteps.
“I don’t want to become a best player or something, but just to play tennis for some school scholarships in a good university abroad,” said Ammar Dhaga, 12, the son of a top bureaucrat at the water and power ministry.
His friends Sachal Ali Mirza, 11, and Shehryar Khokhar, 10, share his ambition.
“I am playing tennis because I like it and also because I want an international scholarship in America for tennis,” said Khokhar.
Khan says Pakistan has tennis potential, but a major injection of funds is needed to stop the talent heading to college instead.
“Right now we have the talent, the question is whether the private sector is robust to come forward and sponsor these players,” he said.
“At least Rs40 million are needed to give a push to tennis and that’s a lot of money for Pakistan.”
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.
----------
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
Univ of #Kentucky to Host 140 #Fulbright #Pakistan Students at Seminar on U.S. Social Justice Movements | UKNow http://uknow.uky.edu/content/uk-host-fulbright-pakistan-seminar-us-social-justice-movements#.VjtvVrRlfhU.twitter …
The University of Kentucky will host 140 Fulbright students from Pakistan, who recently arrived in the United States for their graduate studies, at the Fulbright Pakistan Fall Seminar Nov. 5-8, 2015. The seminar, which is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Educational Foundation in Pakistan, will focus on how social justice movements have shaped contemporary U.S. life and culture.
The seminar will also address how to be successful in the U.S. higher education system, and participants will have the opportunity to work with a number of returning-student mentors. The seminar will provide professional development and networking opportunities and will acquaint participants with the culture of the Upper South region of the United States. In addition, participants will visit the Muhammad Ali Center in Louisville, Kentucky.
The seminar’s thematic sessions include “The Making of Modern Kentucky: Race and the Fight for Equal Rights,” “Tools of U.S. Social Justice Movements” and “U.S. Social Movements Today.” These sessions will expose students to critical issues facing U.S. society and will introduce some of the ways the U.S. responds to movements for social change. Participants will develop a greater understanding of the cultural context in which they are living.
The sessions will be led by distinguished faculty members of UK, U.S. Department of State program officers, and members of the Lexington community, including a retired Lexington Herald-Leader reporter, and local leaders of the Masjid Bilal Ibn Rabah, American Spiritual Ensemble, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, and The Plantory.
Dr. Carol E. Jordan, executive director of the University of Kentucky Office for Policy Studies on Violence Against Women, will give the keynote address at 7:30 p.m. on November 5, at the Embassy Suites Lexington Hotel. Members of the media are welcome to attend and should RSVP to Andrea Gils. Interviews with Fulbright Students from Pakistan and program administrators can also be arranged by request.
Since 1950, the U.S. and Pakistani governments have partnered to operate and manage the Fulbright Program in Pakistan with the goal to help Pakistanis learn more about the United States and to help Americans learn more about Pakistan. Close to 3,000 Pakistanis and 880 U.S. citizens have been awarded Fulbright grants to study or research in the United States and in Pakistan, respectively. There are currently 419 Pakistani students in the United States pursuing master’s and Ph.D. degrees through the Fulbright Program, making it the largest Fulbright Foreign Student program in the world.
The Fulbright Program is the U.S. government’s flagship international educational exchange program. Since 1946, the Fulbright Program has provided more than 360,000 participants from more than 160 countries with the opportunity to study, teach and conduct research, exchange ideas and contribute to finding solutions to shared international concerns.
Why Indian Student Numbers in U.S. Are on the Rise After Three-Year Decline
http://blogs.wsj.com/indiarealtime/2015/11/17/why-indian-student-numbers-in-u-s-are-on-the-rise-after-three-year-decline/
Indian students are enrolling in U.S. schools at a faster rate than ever recorded, reversing a recent decline in numbers of people traveling from India to study in America, a new report shows.
The number of students from India in America rose 29.4% in the academic year starting fall 2014 compared with a year earlier, according to an annual report on international students released jointly by the Institute of International Education and the U.S. Department of State.
It means there were 132,888 Indians studying in U.S. schools that year, up from 102,673 in September 2013 .
Only China had more students stateside, with 304,040 enrolling there, an increase of 10.8% from a year earlier.
The rise in students from India arrested a three-year decline in their numbers on U.S. campuses, according to the report titled “Open Doors Report on International Educational Exchange.”
The rate of growth in Indian students in the U.S. was the highest in the history of the Open Doors project, the report said, which started gathering data in the academic year starting in the fall of 1954. India’s most recent such surge in students moving to the U.S. for higher education occurred in the start of the 2000/2001 academic year.
Harjiv Singh, founder and editor of BrainGain Magazine, an online publication based in New Delhi focusing on studying abroad, said better access to funding from banks, a lack of high quality higher education institutions in India and stiff competition for those that there are, contributed to the rise.
“I think it’s going to go up faster in the next few years. You’ll see that uptrend continue, I’d say for the next decade,” Mr. Singh said.
According to separate figures from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, the U.S. is the first choice for Indians wanting to study abroad, followed by the U.K., Australia, Canada and the UAE. The South Asian nation has 181,872 students studying outside India, the UNESCO figures showed.
The number of first-year Indian students traveling to the U.K. to study fell by 50% from the fall of 2010 to around 11,000 in the academic year starting 2013.
Speaking at the ‘Pakistan StartUP Cup’ competition for young entrepreneurs, jointly organised by the U.S Embassy and The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE), he said that Pakistan and US were working on a ‘knowledge corridor’ under which around 10,000 PhDs from Pakistan will be trained in U.S universities.
http://tribune.com.pk/story/1178264/5g-launched-soon-ahsan-iqbal/
THE INTERNATIONAL BACCALAUREATE, A VIABLE OPTION FOR PAKISTANI STUDENTS.
Most Pakistani parents choose schools for their children with an eye to ensuring that they are competitive when it comes to applying for admission to U.S. or U.K. colleges. Many today are counting on the Swiss-based International Baccalaureate education program as the more holistic, and competitive, alternative to the British General Certificate of Education’s Ordinary and Advanced level pre-college qualifications.
Founded in 1968, the IB aims to develop the “intellectual, personal, emotional and social skills needed to live, learn and work in a rapidly globalizing world.” There are 4,527 schools around the world—including 15 in Pakistan, where the program was introduced in 1996—that offer 5,865 IB programs, from primary school onward, to almost a million students in 147 countries.
Karachi’s International School was the first private school to offer the IB in Pakistan, and it took another 10 years for other schools to being adopting the program. The number of Pakistani schools that offer the IB is still small compared to those in India, where the IB took off in 1976 and is offered by 120 schools.
Awareness has been an obstacle. “We did not even have a relationship with the Ministry of Education until three years ago,” says Faizol Musa, regional development manager of the IB Board. Over the last three years, IB educators have organized workshops and seminars in Pakistan to create awareness of the program and its admissions-time advantages. But despite that, and its acceptance by the world’s top colleges and universities, many Pakistani universities still do not recognize the IB for admissions.
The schools which offer the program recognize its full value. “Parents have a habit of judging their children’s studies with the amount of homework they get,” says Misbah Rani of Lahore’s Sanjan Nagar Public Education Trust. “Our program encourages students to really learn and absorb the information rather than just memorize a few lines.”
Offering the IB program requires certification and teacher training, requirements that few schools in Pakistan’s stressed and underserved education market are equipped to handle. Aitchison College recently withdrew its application for certification, while the Lahore Grammar School’s application is pending with the IB Board. (School-certification applications can take up to two years to get accepted.)
Costs also account for why Pakistan’s embrace of the IB has been slow in coming. Applications are expensive (the school-certification application carries a one-time fee of $4,383, and the IB Board charges the certified school between $7,192 and $9,846 on an annual basis.) To keep current with the prescribed standards, these certified schools are also required to undergo mandatory training programs for teachers twice a year. It also costs parents more: Rs. 40,000 per month, almost twice the price of the British GCE certification system. However, Sanjan Nagar, a school for underprivileged children with an enrollment of some 700, is managing to offer the IB for Rs. 1,500 per month.
“We hope that public schools will also be able to be part of the program as well,” says Musa. “Pakistan is one of the fastest growing regions and markets for IB. We are certain that in 10 years it will become one of the key countries for IB worldwide.”
http://newsweekpakistan.com/education-in-a-rapidly-globalizing-world/
ISLAMABAD: Cambridge International Examinations (CIE) announced O’ and A’ Level results on Thursday.
Schools in Pakistan made over 270,000 entries for Cambridge qualifications this year, an increase of seven per cent over last year. The names of high achievers across the world will be announced in January after detailed analysis of the results.
Students heave a sigh of relief as CIE announces results
“More students than ever before collected their CIE results today, as entries for Cambridge qualifications continue to grow in Pakistan and around the world,” said CIE Country Director Uzma Yousuf Zaka.
Entries for O’ Level increased by five per cent from 154,137 in 2014-15 to 162,208 in 2015-16 and entries for A’ Level increased by eight percent from 84,365 to 91,094, the CIE Pakistan office told The Express Tribune.
The popularity of Cambridge IGCSE is also growing in Pakistan, with entries increasing by 16 per cent this year, going up from 10,364 in 2014-15 to 12,019 this year.
Globally there has been 10 percent growth in entries across all Cambridge qualifications this year, including 11 per cent growth in entries for Cambridge International A Levels and 8 per cent for Cambridge IGCSE.
Schools in Islamabad offering O’ and A’ levels programmes said they were satisfied with the result.
KGS tops list of outstanding Cambridge learners
We had the best results this year, said Fahim Khan, Principal of Headstart, Senior Branch, F-8/4. About 330 students had appeared in the exam, and of them, over 100 were high achievers with more than three As. The students mostly secured As and A* in science subjects, economics and math, he said.
We have regular, foreign qualified and committed teaching staff, he said, and we try to create a positive relationship between students and teachers besides striking a balance between cocurricular and academic activities.
Natalia Ahsan, the best academic student who secured five straight As in A Level in the school said the best part was that the teachers were always available to them and she did not have to do extra efforts in the exams or go to tuition centers.
Roots IVY International Schools CEO Khadija Mushtaq said her students earned over 1,200 As in IGCSE, O’ Levels, and A’ Levels.
KGS, Lyceum win big at Harvard Model United Nations 2016
The most notable among the O Level/IGCSE high achiever was Rida Shahid of DHA campus with 5 A* and 5 As, which is a phenomenal achievement, she said.
Saifur Rehman and Babar Mushtaq from Roots IVY Chaklala Scheme III excelled by attaining 9 A*s in IGCSE. other notable IGCSE high achievers with 9 As include Babar Mustafa, Haiqa Kamran, Tallina Talle, Saifur Rehman, Umer Sadiq, Humna Rehman, Muhammad Hassan Malik, and Ali Mustafa Khatai.
Tallina Talle attributed her success to her teachers and parents who made her work hard and opined that “if you work hard, you don’t need any tuition academies”.
The A’ level results included Muhammad Afaaq, Muhammad Haisam Azhar and Arham Hameed from different campuses achieves 6 straight As.
Islamabad College of Arts and Sciences (ICAS) Principal Nusrat Tahir also said praised her students, noting that they achieved 46 A*s, 100 As, and 121 Bs in O’ Levels, and 5 A*s, 60 As, and 55 Bs in A-Levels.
http://tribune.com.pk/story/1160600/cambridge-results-record-setting-year-pakistanis/
Students of #Pakistan's Habib University to attend summer sessions at UC #Berkeley in #California
http://www.dawn.com/news/1295046/
Habib University (HU) has signed an agreement with University of California, Berkeley, which will assist the university's students to attend summer sessions in the United States, said a statement issued on Saturday.
Under the new agreement, Habib University students will be able to take classes under six-week session, eight-week session, or the entire 10-week term at University of California with choice of studying various courses from a range of over 600 courses taught by UC Berkeley faculty.
The students will also have the option to reside on or off campus in the town of Berkeley, with easy access to downtown San Francisco, it added.
Know more: Pakistani students in US
Habib University students will have to undergo internal selection process where each prospective student will have to display a serious intent to study, provide insights into the possible courses of study, and explain their learning expectations from the multicultural experience and the entrepreneurial potential of Silicon Valley and UC Berkeley.
UC Berkeley also hosts the annual Mahomedali Habib Distinguished Lecture Series on Pakistan under The Berkeley Pakistan Initiative.
The 4th Mahomedali Habib Distinguished Lecture took place on November 6, 2016, at Berkeley. The lecture was titled “The Indus Civilisation – Changing Perspectives on Regional Origins, Diverse Character and Complex Legacy”, and was delivered by famed archaeologist and one of the world’s leading authorities on the ancient Indus Civilisation Dr. Jonathan Mark Kenoyer.
Habib University has signed several agreements with many foreign universities which have opened new avenues of learning and collaboration for HU students and faculty.
#France to offer 200 higher #education scholarships to underprivileged #Pakistani students
http://www.brecorder.com/pakistan/general-news/327660-france-inks-mou-to-offer-200-scholarships-to-unprivileged-pakistani-students.html
France and Pakistan have inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) offering 200 needs-based scholarships to the unprivileged Pakistani students in various subjects for promoting educational cooperation between the two countries.
The MOU was signed by French Ambassador to Pakistan Martine Dorance and Higher Educational Commission (HEC) Chairman Dr Mukhtar Ahmed in a simple ceremony here at the residence of French envoy late Friday. The scholarships would be available from next year.
The French ambassador, in her remarks on the occasion, said the MoU would further cement bridges between the two people. Higher education was one of the pillars of Pak-French cooperation and the MOU, signed today, would give scholarships to those students, who did not have sufficient means, to continue their education.
Later, the envoy hosted the annual dinner in honour of Pakistan-France Alumni Network (PFAN). In her remarks on the occasion, she said 500 students from Pakistan were already in France to pursue their studies in different subjects in French educational institutions. France, she said, was the world's third destination for international students and it would like to have more students from Pakistan.
A delegation of Pakistani educationists led by HEC Chairman Dr Mukhtar Ahmed visited France early this year, which was quite fruitful and after exchange of views it was decided then to further increase partnership between the two countries, she said. Pakistani universities, she said, had also agreed to introduce new programmes in that regard and would open up information centres in Karachi, Lahore, Faisalabad and Peshawar to let students know of the available opportunities in French institutions.
The French envoy said members of the PFAN were Pakistan's ambassadors in France whenever they were visiting there. Similarly, they were French ambassadors while working in Pakistan. "You are the bridge between the two countries," she added.
"We want to forge long lasting relations between France and Pakistan. We wish you will return to France as businessmen and as investors," she said while referring to PFAN members.
She thanked the HEC chairman for his efforts in promoting Pak-French cooperation in the field of education.
The envoy said after a very successful Pakistan Day in France in June this year, it was decided to organize a French Day in Pakistan next year.
Speaking on the occasion, HEC Chairman Dr Mukhtar heaped praise on the French envoy, saying she infused a new impetus into Pak-French relations hence ties between the two countries were growing.
He said a conference on archaeology would be organized in Lahore next year and another moot on Gandhara Art was being planned in France in 2018, which would help enhance cultural cooperation between the two sides.
He said Pakistani universities would set up Knowledge Parks in different campuses to promote cooperation between the two countries . All the work had been done to set up an advanced study in climate and the French government had shown interest to be a partner in that regard, he added.
The dinner was attended by Secretary Science and Technology Fazal Abbas and members of the PFAN and vice chancellors of various universities.
PFAN President Dr Khalid Saleem, in his remarks on the occasion, expressed his gratitude to the French envoy for hosting a dinner for PFAN members and assured her it would continue to work for strengthening links between Islamabad and Paris.
#US #Pakistan #Knowledge Corridor to send 10,000 scholars to US, the Higher Education Vision 2025 http://bit.ly/2eqvzS8 via @techjuicepk
Reaffirming its commitment towards a developing Pakistan, the Government of Pakistan has announced that an agenda on set of goals to be achieved in the education sector, the Higher Education Vision 2025 will soon be announced and shared with general public.
While addressing an interactive discussion session on the Higher Education Vision 2025, the Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Reforms, Ahsan Iqbal announced that the the draft on the Higher Education Vision 2025 is in its final phases and will be shared soon, reported Dawn. Chairman HEC Dr. Mukhtar Ahmed were also among the other notable guests who graced the gathering.
Ahsan Iqbal shared the to-be incorporated points with the gathering stating that the emphasis is being pivoted from the STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) fields to the STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics) fields. Stressing over the importance of Arts education, Ahsan Iqbal said that Government will be establishing an academy to promote the study on social sciences across the country.
Mukhtar Ahmed agreed and pointed that HEC already had redesigned its goals in the light of national goals as prescribed in the Vision. Ahsan Iqbal also mentioned that, as part of the US-Pakistan Knowledge Corridor, 10,000 Pakistani scholars will be sent to the United States for higher study in the next 10 years.
The Higher Education Vision 2025 consists of a set of goals which the state will aspire to achieve in coming years through to 2025. The document will give a direction to the government’s efforts in the education sector and will help it remain focused towards the set targets. The reaffirmation of this resolute is necessary as it also helps state in keeping up with the ongoing developments and improvements in the education sector from around the globe.
U.S. universities and colleges are hosting 6,141 students from Pakistan, writes David Hale.
https://www.geo.tv/latest/140927-American-education …
Over one million international students are now enrolled at American higher education institutions, maintaining the US’s long-standing position as the world’s top host nation for international students. The 2015-2016 academic year – the latest year for which data is available – showed a 14.7 percent increase in Pakistani students studying in the US. We are proud that this is the highest level in five years, with our universities and colleges hosting 6,141 students. This includes the increase in students studying at the undergraduate and graduate levels as well as those enrolled in the Optional Practical Training. This is a testament to the unmatched quality of higher education in the US in the eyes of international students and their families.
International students from diverse backgrounds strengthen ties between the US and various countries around the world, developing the relationships between people and communities that are necessary to solve global challenges. We highly value inclusion and actively support students from diverse racial, ethnic, religious, and geographic backgrounds on campuses across the US. American students and communities benefit from the unique and diverse perspective that international students bring to expand their own worldviews, which helps prepare all of us for a shared, successful future in an interconnected world.
US colleges and universities take pride in providing safe, hospitable environments for all of their students. I want to stress how welcome you are in the US. Many universities have come together to send a specific and direct message to students around the world through the #YouAreWelcomeHere campaign. I join them in welcoming you to the US, where our colleges and universities offer valuable educational opportunities to help you meet your life and career goals.
The consular officials at Embassy Islamabad, the Consulate General Karachi, the Consulate General Lahore and at the US embassies and consulates around the world continue to work diligently to process student visa requests. Information about the visa process is available at https://travel.state.gov/content/visas/en.html or https://pk.usembassy.gov/. The EducationUSA advisers are ready to answer questions about studying in the US, and you can find an adviser at educationusa.state.gov
Those of you who have received offers of admission have an opportunity to accept this life-changing opportunity and join your peers in experiencing the unique value of an American higher education.
Number of Pakistani students in the United States rose 14.7% in 2016 over 2015.
There were 5,354 Pakistani students in 2015, up 14.7% from 6.141 students in 2015, according to US Institute of International education.
There were 165,916 students from India, 9,662 from Nepal and 6,513 from Bangladesh....all higher than Pakistan's 6,141 students in the United States. Even hostile Iran has 12,269 students in US, a lot more than Pakistan's 6,141.
https://www.iie.org/Research-and-Insights/Open-Doors/Data/International-Students/All-Places-of-Origin
#Canada: #Pakistan added to Student Direct Stream (SDS) . 2,400 #Pakistani students enrolled in Canadian universities in 2016/17 make the country the 9th largest source of #foreign #students https://thepienews.com/news/canada-pakistan-added-to-student-direct-stream-scheme/#.XUUZGTYDuTA.twitter
The scheme reduces processing times for visas, with most applications finalised in less than three weeks according to IRCC.
In order to access the benefits of SDS, prospective students need to provide additional information to show they meet language proficiency and financial requirements.
For example, they need to submit proof they have reached a score of at least 6 in IELTS and have a guaranteed investment certificate of CA$10,000.
The expansion of the scheme meets the Canadian government’s goal of attracting students from a more diverse range of country, IRCC stated.
“There is a high demand for higher education in Canada from… Pakistani students”
“By expanding the SDS to prospective students from Pakistan, IRCC is encouraging a more diverse range of students to choose Canada,” an IRCC spokesperson told The PIE News.
The industry, whose focus on diversification was made urgent by events such as the Saudi crisis in 2018, welcomed the development and expressed hope the scheme will be expanded further.
“This is very much a welcome development and we are pleased to see IRCC’s efforts trying to help more international students access our higher education system… it certainly supports broader priorities in our sector around diversification,” Universities Canada assistant director of international relations Cindy McIntyre told The PIE.
“There’s recognition in the sector that there is a high demand for higher education in Canada from a large cohort of Pakistani students, so I think that does make sense,” she added, explaining that the organisation’s latest data showed that about 2,400 Pakistani students were enrolled in Canadian universities in 2016/17, making the country the 9th largest source.
President and CEO of CICan Denise Amyot agreed that there is an increasing demand for international education from Pakistani students.
“As more and more young Pakistanis look overseas to pursue their education, we are confident this will make Canadian colleges and institutes all the more attractive,” she said.
“We also hope that this will be a step towards further expansion of the Study Direct Stream, which could benefit many other countries, including francophone markets.”
Pakistan was the 19th largest nationality for student visa holders in Canada by December 2018, according to IRCC figures, and the 47th source countries for language schools.
At Languages Canada, the organisation’s executive director Gonzalo Peralta welcomed the development but called on the government to recognise the needs of the private sector members, which have registered a lower growth last year compared to the public sector.
“Although Pakistan is a very minor source country for language students to Canada, we are fully behind government policies that support student mobility and our educational institutions,” Peralta said.
Peralta added that he would like to see the program address the needs of the country’s private sector members and to support the diversification of its international language student population.
“While our public sector members have benefited from SDS, accredited and designated private sector members have not had the same access,” he explained.
“And because diversification is such an important strategy for our sector, it would benefit Canada if the program were available in its appropriate form in other regions of the world.”
International Students Mobility: A Case of Pakistan
Pakistan Journal of Commerce and Social Sciences 2015, Vol. 9 (2), 447-460
From 1998 through 2010, the number of students studying overseas has increased sharply
from 13,127 to 36,366
https://poseidon01.ssrn.com/delivery.php?ID=928082082020093075064007070070017112025034090043062053107092014090007121068109028078110007008044037025023020114126085122067004023074045075046075079072090085078071084014089041092020092027068098001022108022115065109069067119011118094065112125068085068029&EXT=pdf
It is quite meaningful that over last decade the Pakistani Government has focused upon the
internationalization of higher education through outbound approach. The Government of
Pakistan established Higher Education Commission (HEC) of Pakistan, to promote higher
education and improve the quality of education in Pakistani institutions, in 2002.
So far HEC has sent a total of 8537 scholars in different countries abroad for attaining
higher education (MS/MPhil/PhD and Post-Doctoral level) under different categories2 out
of which 4203 has completed their studies. Till June, 2011, there were a total of 775
scholars who had been abroad out of which 689 were males and 86 females. The male –
female ratio was 89% to 11%. The least number of females had been abroad due to family
and cultural reasons.
The highest number of scholars had been in the Engineering and Physical Sciences i.e. 731
and 731. In Engineering and Technology 203 and 135 had been in France and Germany
only. In Physical sciences the higher number of students had been to Austria and Germany
i.e. 188 and 126 respectively. For Biology and Medical sciences 303 scholars had been
abroad. For Agriculture and Veterinary Sciences 343 students had been to different
countries. In social sciences 249 scholars had been abroad. For business education, total 0f
129 scholars had been to various countries. For Arts and Humanities only 43 scholars went
abroad.
Visa Delays: Around 4,000 #Pakistani #Students Could Lose Their Chance to Study at Foreign #Universities . #COVID19 related delay could lead to students losing scholarships or their places at universities where they’ve been admitted—Erudera College News
https://collegenews.org/visa-delays-around-4000-pakistani-students-could-lose-their-chance-to-study-abroad/
Almost 4,000 Pakistani students were expected to leave their home country and head to other world countries to start or continue their studies for this academic year.
However, as a result of COVID-19 developments, embassies continue to postpone student visa issuance, which could lead to students losing scholarships or their places at universities where they have been admitted to.
Students in Pakistan must wait at least one year to receive visa approvals and become eligible for pursuing studies abroad.
A group of Pakistani students who have received scholarships from international universities said that they are under so much pressure as the winter semester in foreign universities starts in October, and in case they do not receive their visas on time, universities could cancel their scholarships and remove them from the admission list.
“The Government of Pakistan should request or protest to foreign embassies to issue visas of Pakistani students within one month time so that they will attend winter semester classes abroad,” a representative of the students’ group said.
Due to delays with visa processing, a considerable number of students have already suffered the cancellation of their scholarships or admission at universities in Germany.
“Students in Pakistan are having their dreams killed. Please do not waste our preparations and efforts. Start speedy master priority appointments. They are waiting since 1.5 years. There is so much of uncertainty,” a student tweeted to the German Ambassador to Pakistan.
Affected students in Pakistan have expressed their indignation over this situation, saying that the problem with student visa delays has been present in Pakistan even before, claiming that the embassies refuse to collaborate with students even during a global crisis.
Pakistani students have urged the competent bodies to start working towards this issue by changing the appointment system as soon as possible in order to“not ruin their dreams”.
They have called on the federal government to begin the establishment of a special Cell in Pakistan’s Federal Higher Education Commission which would offer visa facilitations to Pakistan’s students set to study at foreign universities.
United under the hashtag #PakPhDsAwaitingAusVisas, PhD students from Pakistan have also demanded from the embassies the acceleration of visa issuance procedures.
Pakistan is a significant exporter of international students globally. According to UNESCO statistics, the number of outbound Pakistani degree-seeking students grew by 70 percent over the last decade, from 31,156 in 2007 to 53,023 in 2017.
https://wenr.wes.org/2020/02/education-in-pakistan
Another important driver is the lack of university seats and high-quality study programs in Pakistan, particularly at the graduate level. While Pakistan has created a tremendous amount of new doctoral programs over the past decade, growing numbers of Pakistani scholars are heading abroad to access higher quality education, primarily in fields like engineering and the sciences. To modernize research in Pakistan and raise the qualifications profile of university faculty, the government supports this development with scholarship programs of considerable scale, considering Pakistan’s fiscal constraints. While most Pakistani students are said to be self-funded, overseas scholarship programs have helped thousands of graduate students to pursue studies in the United States, the United Kingdom, Cuba, Germany, France, and various other countries in recent years. Scholarship recipients are often required to return home after graduation.
The traditional English-speaking international study destinations, Australia and the U.S., are currently the top choices among Pakistani degree-seeking students, as per UNESCO statistics. Data published by the Australian government show that the number of Pakistani students grew almost threefold over the past decade, from 3,512 in 2008 to 10,000 in 2019, making Pakistan one of the top 10 sending countries of tertiary students in Australia.
In the U.S., likewise, Pakistani enrollments have generally been on an upward trajectory over the past few years. According to the Open Doors data of the Institute of International Education, Pakistan sent 7,957 students to the U.S. in 2018/19, an increase of 5.6 percent over the previous year, making it the 22nd most important sending country. Around 44 percent of these students are enrolled in undergraduate programs, 35 percent in graduate programs, and 4 percent in non-degree programs, while 17 percent pursue Optional Practical Training.
Other popular destination countries include the U.K. and the Muslim-majority countries Malaysia and Saudi Arabia, the latter also being a magnet for labor migrants from Pakistan. It should be noted, however, that China has emerged as a significant destination as well. China may, in fact, now host the largest number of Pakistani international students worldwide. While UNESCO does not report data for China, and Chinese government figures are difficult to compare,[1] Pakistan is currently the third-largest sending country to China with 28,000 students, per Chinese statistics. As in neighboring India, many Pakistani students flock to China to pursue medical education—an underdeveloped and severely overburdened education sector in both India and Pakistan. Increased political and economic cooperation between Pakistan and China and Chinese scholarship funding likely play a significant role as well. Increasing numbers of Pakistani students are interested in learning Chinese.
In general, Pakistani students have increasingly diversified their international study destinations in recent years. In Canada, for instance, the number of Pakistani students has doubled over the past decade, if on a relatively small scale (4,050 students in 2019). Another notable destination country is Germany, where Pakistan is now among the top 20 sending countries after enrollments jumped by 28 percent within just one year, from 3,836 in 2017 to 4,928 in 2018—a trend likely driven, among other factors, by the availability of tuition-free, high-quality graduate programs in engineering.
UNESCO Global Flow of Tertiary-Level Students From Pakistan
http://uis.unesco.org/en/uis-student-flow
China 28,000 (Not included in UNESCO numbers)
Australia 11,324
United States 7,412
United Kingdom 5,594
Malaysia 4,649
Germany 4,204
Canada 2,802
Saudi Arabia 2,165
Turkey 1,822
Italy 1,339
South Korea 1,272
Kyrgyzstan 830
Sweden 806
Finland 675
Qatar 638
Bahrain 580
Cyprus 551
Hungary 469
France 410
Norway 344
New Zealand 326
Oman 300
Netherlands 289
Iran 282
US-Pakistan Agreement to Support 125 Pakistani PhD students | The Academia
https://academiamag.com/us-pakistan-agreement-to-support-125-pakistani-phd-students/
In a step toward expanding U.S.-Pakistan educational cooperation, the Higher Education Commission (HEC) and the United States Educational Foundation in Pakistan (USEFP) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to support 125 Pakistanis to pursue PhD studies in the United States, 25 per year for five years. The MoU extends an agreement that funded 125 Fulbright-HEC PhD scholarships between 2016 and 2020. Acting HEC Chairman Dr. Shaista Sohail and USEFP Executive Director Ms. Rita Akhtar signed the MoU on June 16, through which the Government of Pakistan will contribute USD 5 million per year to the Fulbright-HEC PhD Program.
Fulbright is the flagship scholarship program of the U.S. Department of State, operating in 165 countries. Since 2005, Pakistan has had the world’s largest Fulbright Program in terms of U.S. government financial contribution, with approximately 100 master’s and 25 PhD scholarships funded annually. The HEC-USEFP MoU funds an additional 25 PhDs per year, bringing the total to 50.
“This MoU provides funding for 125 exceptional Pakistanis to complete PhD programs at some of the best universities in the United States,” explained USEFP Executive Director Rita Akhtar. “It represents a spectacular contribution to the social and economic development of Pakistan as well as to mutual understanding and friendship between the two countries. Our Fulbright grantees return to Pakistan to apply new skills and knowledge in every field and sector of Pakistan’s economy.”
According to U.S. Embassy Chargé d’affaires Les Viguerie, “The U.S.-Pakistan education partnership is among the best in the world, and the United States values the Pakistani students who enrich American campuses across our country.”
The Fulbright Program is a fully funded, merit-based program that provides the opportunity to conduct research and implement skills and ideas. The participants hail from different regions of Pakistan and study at leading universities in the United States.
USEFP is a bi-national commission established in 1950 by the governments of the United States and Pakistan. Since its inception, more than 9,000 Pakistanis and over 935 Americans have participated in USEFP-managed exchange programs. Its mission is to promote mutual understanding between the people of Pakistan and the people of the United States through exchange programs.
#Pakistani-#American singer Arooj Aftab inspired by Ghalib, Cohen and Rumi to create a unique fusion #music presentation: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/pakistani-musician-arooj-aftabs-neo-sufi-music-blends-rumi-with-reggae-and-more
Arooj Aftab recently debuted work from her latest album at a concert at Brooklyn's Pioneer Works. Her compositions are personal, her performance intimate, but it was far from a solo effort.
----------------
Audio engineering's loss was composing's gain. Where else would we get a song like "Last Night," with lyrics adapted from 13th century Sufi mystic and poet Rumi put to a beat like this one?
--------------------
Her loss and her art converge in a composition called "Diya Haiti," its lyrics derived from a poem by the popular 19th century Indian poet Mirza Ghalib.
----------
Still, she had the self-assurance to take on a poet of more recent vintage, Leonard Cohen, and his celebrated composition "Hallelujah."
UMaine welcomes U.S. Department of State Global UGRAD-Pakistan student
https://umaine.edu/news/blog/2022/02/08/umaine-welcomes-u-s-department-of-state-global-ugrad-pakistan-student/
International student Afsah Pervaiz has joined the University of Maine community as part of the U.S. Department of State’s Global Undergraduate Exchange Program in Pakistan (Global UGRAD-Pakistan). Pervaiz is an undergraduate student studying microbiology.
The Global UGRAD-Pakistan program, established in 2010, places Pakistani participants at U.S. colleges and universities for a semester of study abroad, leadership skills building and professional development. It is part of a broader U.S. Department of State effort to promote greater understanding between the people of the United States and other countries.
Through semester-long academic coursework, exploration of U.S. culture, participation in community service projects, and interactions with Americans in their host communities and campuses, Global UGRAD-Pakistan participants develop expertise in their academic fields and gain a broad and nuanced understanding of American culture and values. Global UGRAD-Pakistan participants enrich the lives of the Americans they meet by sharing their culture and bringing a global perspective to their host communities.
The Global Undergraduate Exchange Program in Pakistan is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) with funding provided by the U.S. Government and supported in its implementation by IREX. More information about the program is online.
https://www.irex.org/project/global-undergraduate-exchange-program-pakistan-global-ugrad-pakistan
The Global Undergraduate Exchange Program in Pakistan (Global UGRAD-Pakistan) provides emerging youth leaders from diverse communities across Pakistan with the opportunity to attend American universities and colleges for non-degree academic study.
During a semester of undergraduate classes and community engagement, participants strengthen their leadership, academic, and career-preparedness skills while building relationships with Americans. Participants return home as engaged leaders committed to tackling pressing challenges in their communities and fostering greater understanding between people of the United States and Pakistan.
Global UGRAD-Pakistan is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State with funding provided by the U.S. Government and supported in its implementation by IREX.
The United States and Pakistan Break Ground on U.S. Education Foundation of Pakistan Headquarters - U.S. Embassy & Consulates in Pakistan
https://pk.usembassy.gov/the-united-states-and-pakistan-break-ground-on-u-s-education-foundation-of-pakistan-headquarters/
Islamabad, February 16, 2022: Today marks a new milestone in the 75 years of the U.S.-Pakistani relationship with the groundbreaking of the first permanent headquarters for the U.S. Educational Foundation in Pakistan (USEFP).
U.S. Embassy Islamabad Chargé d’affaires Angela P. Aggeler noted: “Today’s ground-breaking is just the next step in the tremendous work of USEFP and each of you who are dedicated to bringing our people together through education, and eager to watch it continue for decades to come.”
In 1950, the United States and Pakistan officially formed a bilateral commission – now known as USEFP – to exchange Masters’ and PhD students. Today, USEFP manages a wide range of educational and professional exchange programs, including the largest Fulbright Program in the world, between Pakistan and the United States, and many thousands of alumni of those programs are leaders throughout the country.
Rita Akhtar, Executive Director of the USEFP, added that the Capital Development Authority’s land donation to this project and the participation of iconic architect Nayyar Ali Dada were further indications of how favorably Pakistan views the opportunities afforded by U.S. higher education.
The new headquarters will serve as a state-of-the-art facility for managing U.S. government-funded exchange programs, such as the Fulbright program, and for the Islamabad advising center of EducationUSA, the official U.S. government resource for all students interested in pursuing education opportunities in the Untied States
Pakistan students complain about German visa delays
Haroon Janjua Islamabad
https://www.dw.com/en/pakistan-students-say-german-visa-delays-put-their-education-at-risk/a-63481632
Pakistani students, who have been admitted to German universities, are worried that they might lose their admissions due to long waiting times for student visa appointments at German missions in the country.
--------------
When Pakistani Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto visited Germany earlier this month, he said the visa issue is a big concern and that Islamabad hopes to "continue to be able to engage and make that process more easier."
His German counterpart Annalena Baerbock, at the joint press conference on October 7, said that the issue is high on her ministry's agenda and promised to address the problem.
------------
For Farooq Rasheed, getting admitted to the University of Bonn's Geodetic Engineering program this year was one of the best things that happened in his life. He was supposed to begin his studies in the western German city last week but he's still stuck in Pakistan waiting for a visa.
The 23-year-old student from Lahore city said that he had applied for a visa in July but has yet to receive it.
"My classes started last week but the university has given me exemption, and I am attending online classes for the next two-three months," Rasheed told DW, adding that he has no idea when he will receive the student visa.
It's not an isolated case. Many other students have complained of long waiting times for visa appointments at German missions in the South Asian country.
Fatima Saleem, 23, is enrolled for a masters program in entrepreneurship management and marketing at the Otto Von Guericke University in Magdeburg. She said she has been waiting for a visa appointment since May.
"I didn't know I would have to miss my first semester due to the delay in appointments from the German Embassy, as the website stated that the waiting time is 2-3 months," she told DW.
"My classes started on October 10. I hope to get my visa soon. My university has allowed me to join later, before exams. But since there are no online classes, I am facing many issues and have to study all by myself," she noted.
Students fear losing admission
Students say they risk losing their admissions if the German missions in the country fail to make an appointment for them on time.
"I am afraid, if I won't make it before exams I might lose my whole academic year, which would have a devastating effect on my future. I request the German Embassy to kindly expedite the process now and make us a priority so that we can reach there at least before exams," said Saleem.
Students who apply for a visa appointment at the German Embassy in Islamabad are receiving an auto generated message, pointing to the long waiting times.
"Given the high demand for appointments, please note that you have to wait approximately up to more than twelve (12) months for the allocation of your appointment," it reads.
The embassy hasn't so far responded to DW's repeated requests for comment as to why students are facing such long delays in getting visa appointments.
What could be the reasons behind the long waiting times?
Rasheed believes the long waiting times are due to the fact that anyone with a passport can apply for a visa appointment and they don't actually need an offer letter from a German university to do so.
This means that people book appointments long before they have even applied for university, resulting in their taking up appointment slots that would otherwise go to deserving visa applicants who actually have offer letters.
"This creates a backlog and many serious candidates get left behind," he said, adding: "The embassy should ask the candidates to provide at least an admission letter at the time of applying for appointments so that only serious candidates who have all the documentation can be considered for visa interviews."
Beaconhouse International College, with campuses in Islamabad, Lahore and Faisalabad, was established to deliver transnational higher education to students in Pakistan.
https://thepienews.com/news/ncuk-new-pakistan-partner/
The new partnership will support BIC’s students to progress to an NCUK partner university, with the foundation year course covering English language and academic skills. The foundation year program at BIC will begin in 2023.
NCUK has over 45 partner universities located in countries including the UK, Australia, New Zealand, the USA, and Canada.
The new partnership is part of a wider initiative between NCUK and Oxbridge Digital in Pakistan.
As part of the collaboration, Oxbridge Digital is finding and recommending educational institutions to join the NCUK Delivery Partner network and deliver NCUK qualifications across a range of locations in Pakistan.
Speaking at the launch of the initiative, Usman Akram, managing director of Oxbridge Digital said, “Since the day we opened our doors in Pakistan, Oxbridge Digital has been partnering with UK Higher Education Institutions to empower students by providing them with opportunities that are both accessible and affordable.
“We’ve taken a step closer to achieving this goal with our new partnering with NCUK. We are looking forward to working with them to grow the number of Study Centres in Pakistan that play an integral role in changing lives of the students here.”
NCUK announced a new partnership with Royal Colleseum School earlier this year.
United States Ambassador Donald Blome joined officials from the University of Utah and the Federal Minister for Planning Development and Special Initiatives, Mr. Ahsan Iqbal, to inaugurate the International Summit on Higher Education and Workforce Development today.
https://pk.usembassy.gov/u-s-pakistan-effort-to-elevate-the-higher-education-sector/
The summit was organized by the U.S.-funded Higher Education System Strengthening Activity (HESSA) and focuses on the role of higher education in the 21st century, highlighting the fluid nature of learning and employment, and explores how universities can reposition themselves in this ever-changing landscape.
Ambassador Donald Blome celebrated the 75 years of partnership between the U.S. and Pakistan and said, “In a country where more than 60 percent of the population is below the age of 30, we must continue to help youth achieve their full potential.”
Minister Iqbal remarked that the Government of Pakistan is open to improving the higher education system and is looking into various options to capitalize on the abundant youth potential in the country. He appreciated Pakistan’s 75-year partnership with the U.S. government and celebrated the support provided by the U.S. government to academia through specialized investment in higher education. He further added that academic institutions and the public and private sectors should join hands to accelerate this development. Mr. Iqbal tasked Pakistani higher education officials to improve higher education.
Dr. Mukhtar Ahmed, Chairman of the Higher Education Commission of Pakistan (HEC), said that HEC will continue working with the U.S. government to build a cadre of experts to improve graduate employability.
Senator Keith Grover, Utah State Senator from the United States noted, “it is the ultimate goal of an institute to provide necessary skills for youth so they can positively contribute to the workforce both locally and globally.”
HESSA is supported by the United States through USAID, and is implemented in collaboration with 16 Pakistani public universities and other stakeholders, with a focus on strengthening universities’ capacity to deliver market-driven education, research, and graduate employability.
there were dramatic increases in enrollment by students from some Western European countries: almost 60 percent from Germany, more than 41 percent from Spain and about 37 percent from France. Bangladesh, Pakistan, Colombia and Nigeria were also among those countries marking double-digit percentage increases, as well.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2022/11/14/international-college-student-enrollment-rise/
The number of international students at U.S. colleges increased last year after a marked drop during the pandemic, according to a survey of thousands of universities released Monday.
For a normal college experience during the pandemic, these students hopped continents
The number of international students increased 4 percent in the 2021-2022 academic year to nearly 1 million students, coming from more than 200 countries, the survey found, a rebound that many higher education officials hoped to see.
But the data also indicated a drop in the number of students from China, the country that for years has sent the most students to the United States.
The Open Doors 2022 Report on International Educational Exchange was released Monday by the Institute of International Education and the State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. The survey included both enrolled students and those here on optional practical training — temporary work related to their academic field — at some 3,000 colleges and universities in the United States.
A separate, much smaller survey of more than 600 schools this fall offered a more recent snapshot of data, finding an additional 9 percent increase in enrollment by international students.
The numbers are closely watched for the cultural and economic impact of such exchanges; international students alter the educational experience for U.S. students studying with them. And, according to the Commerce Department, they contributed $32 billion to the U.S. economy in 2021.
In more than a century of data, Allan E. Goodman, chief executive of the Institute of International Education (IIE), said, they have seen that international exchanges occur even during pandemics and grow rapidly afterward.
The increase was welcomed by Lee Satterfield, assistant secretary of state for educational and cultural affairs. “We are thrilled to see international student numbers on the rise, and to see the United States maintain its global leadership as the top destination of choice for international students,” Satterfield said in a statement.
Satterfield said that welcoming international students to American campuses “is at the heart of people-to-people diplomacy and a foundational component of our U.S. foreign policy strategy to attract the top talent to the United States.”
More than half of all international students last year came from China or India. China sent the most — nearly a third of the total — but the numbers decreased nearly 9 percent from the 2020-2021 academic year.
At the same time, the number of students from India increased nearly 19 percent, to almost 200,000.
Before 2020, the number of students from China had been increasing since the 2009-2010 academic year, said Mirka Martel, head of research, evaluation and learning for IIE. She said the pandemic and its impact on travel is probably one of the primary reasons Chinese students were unable to travel to the United States or were choosing to defer their studies.
Speaking to whether geopolitics influenced those numbers as well, Ethan Rosenzweig, deputy assistant secretary for the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the State Department, said on a press call that the Biden administration has been very clear that Chinese students are welcome here. Rosenzweig said he is looking forward to China opening its borders to allow U.S. universities to recruit in person there again.
UNESCO stats on Pakistani students abroad
https://uis.unesco.org/en/uis-student-flow
United Arab Emirates 24,863
Australia 11,297
United Kingdom 7,802
United States 7,511
Kyrgyzstan 6,003
Germany 5,837
Malaysia 4,243
Canada 2,607
Türkiye 2,386
Saudi Arabia 1,635
Korea, Rep. 1,465
Sweden 1,056
Qatar 1,039
Italy 936
Hungary 878
Finland 618
France 502
Norway 435
Bahrain 411
Iran, Islamic Rep. 377
Ukraine 335
Japan 330
Cyprus 318
Oman 293
New Zealand 274
China, Hong Kong 272
Ireland 263
Poland 253
Latvia 234
Spain 192
Estonia 155
Belgium 145
South Africa 138
Thailand 135
Czechia 131
Denmark 130
Austria 127
Georgia 122
Russian Federation 115
Azerbaijan 90
Lithuania 84
Egypt 77
Portugal 71
Switzerland 69
Malta 63
Uzbekistan 56
Romania 51
Kazakhstan 47
Jordan 42
Brazil 39
Bulgaria 34
India 25
Slovenia 25
Belarus 21
Luxembourg 21
Brunei Darussalam 19
Ghana 17
Iceland 17
Botswana 11
Morocco 10
Slovakia 10
Bosnia/Herzegovina 9
Greece 9
Tanzania 8
Viet Nam 5
Post a Comment