HEC Chairman: Poor Governance Behind Decline in Pakistani University Rankings

Dr. Mukhtar Ahmed, HEC Chairman, said Pakistan’s education system has the potential to be among the world’s best universities but poor governance is mainly causing its universities to fall in global rankings. His comments came on Geo News’ show “Geo Pakistan” after a recent survey highlighted that no Pakistani university ranked in the world’s top 350.

In the recent QS rankings, Quaid-e-Azam University ranked 354th and NUST 371st. Several other universities, like Punjab and the University of Karachi, were in the top 1000. 

This QS ranking has also raised concerns about how effective private universities are in improving the higher education system in Pakistan. Private universities charge high fees but still they are unable to get global recognition. It also raises concerns about the value of their degrees, especially for students who plan to go abroad for higher studies after paying hefty tuition.

HEC Chairman also pointed out a positive sign that 18 universities of Pakistan have been included in the world’s top 1000 universities, up from just three in 2019.

Despite this situation, he was of the view that Pakistan has the ingredients for a better education system. He said, “The country has produced graduates who have done well globally, even better than those from bigger nations.” The main challenge is to address some key problems and “governance” is the most important one, as he added, “Improving governance in education departments is a key step in solving many current issues.” 

The second big problem, which the HEC Chairman mentioned, was quality. He explained that universities work as autonomous entities and are mainly managed by the provincial government and the role of HEC is limited to providing a system and minimum standards.

He also emphasised the need for ownership and property investment in youth to help Pakistani universities compete globally.