32 universities including Pakistan’s top-ranking QAU, KU & IIU performed poorly in 2018-19: Report
They had no enabling environment for research and most relied on old methods of teaching
ISLAMABAD: Research and publication in 32 Pakistani universities were on the backburner during the year 2018-19 since there existed no enabling environment for research and innovation and most of them relied on old and conventional methods of teaching and studies.
This was revealed in a report submitted by the officials of the Higher Education Commission (HEC) while briefing a meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Education.
The parliamentarians were told that the universities whose ranking saw a steady decline during the year 2018-2019 include Pakistan’s top-ranking universities like the Quaid-i-Azam University (QAU), Islamabad, University of Karachi, University of Peshawar, Government College University, Lahore, International Islamic University (IIU), Liaquat University of Medical and Health Sciences, Jamshoro, and the National College of Arts (NCA) Lahore.
The lawmakers deliberated in detail over the ranking and performance of leading universities in the country and the status of research with regards to the criteria followed by them for publication of research papers in journals.
HEC lacks in monitoring, upgrading mechanism
Senator Irfan Siddiqui who was chairing the meeting held that the HEC, the top regulatory body of the public and private sector universities, was lacking a mechanism and a plan to upgrade and monitor the performance of these institutions to make them at par with the international standards of academia and learning.
Despite allocation of funds and tenure track system in place, it is quite disappointing to see such prestigious institutions are lacking in verve and the enthusiasm to make a mark on the educational landscape locally and abroad.
He added that HEC must probe the matter in detail and investigate the cause of universities’ poor performance. He added that solutions must be sought to address this issue minutely so that these prestigious seats of learning may restore their past glory.
The committee, while discussing in details research institutions and their publishing criteria in journals, constituted a sub-committee for a forensic audit of the research departments of five major universities namely the Quaid-e-Azam University, the University of Punjab, Lahore, the University of Peshawar, the Karachi University and the Balochistan University.
A report in this regard will be submitted to the committee within 15 days. It was asserted that with the declining state of educational institutions in the country it was imperative that a keen eye be kept on the criteria of publication of articles in major journals so that merit prevails and Pakistan makes a mark on the international educational scene.