Federal Minister and Chairman, Higher Education Commission (HEC), Dr Atta-ur-Rehman termed the present situation of education in Pakistan 'unsatisfactory', as none of Pakistani universities came in ranking of top 1000 universities around the world.
Dr Atta-ur-Rehman was speaking on the occasion of 7th Convocation of Allama Iqbal Open University (AIOU) at its main campus here in Islamabad on Monday.
He pointed out that the main reason for not including Pakistani universities in ranking of world top 1000 university was the failure so far to come up to international standards on the basis of students' access to the universities, quality of education and the practical relevance of education.
The HEC chairman lamented that only 3.7 percent of students succeeded in having access to higher education, which is inadequate for a country that claims to be a nuclear power. The only way to prosperity and development is improvement in educational system, the construction of buildings and roads must be secondary preference, he added.
He said that enhancement in research was most important factor in any educational system now a day, and unfortunately most of universities in Pakistan lacked that. He said that the focus in universities must be on strengthening of faculties, laboratories and libraries. He further said that professional education in universities should be directed in harmony with the national requirements for development and prosperity in all fields, including science and technology, agriculture, economy and other modern day faculties.
However, Dr Atta-ur-Rehman hoped that the educational system in Pakistan would be improved, as President Musharraf and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz were taking special interest in this regard.
He informed that HEC was focusing to raise the access of students to higher education from 3.7 percent to 8 percent in next five years.
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