According to Times Higher Education World University rankings, no Pakistani university made it to the list of top 500 universities in the world.
These rankings are different from the previous university rankings we covered in the past, which were for the top 150 universities not older than 50 years, and Top Asian Universities in the world.
The Times Higher Rankings have one crucial difference that set them apart. They take a look at all the universities in the world. and are from the most reputed higher education ranking authority.
Two Pakistani universities made it into top 800 in the rankings. Quaid-e-Azam University (QAU) was ranked 501-600 while National University of Science and Technology (NUST) was ranked between 601-800.
As for which universities took the top honors? The California Institute of Technology (Caltec) topped the list with first place in the rankings, with Stanford University in third place, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 5th place and Harvard University at 6th place.
Compared with Pakistan’s 2 universities in top 800 universities worldwide, India has 17 universities included in the rankings, 37 universities from China are included, 3 from Saudi Arabia, 11 from Turkey and 8 from Iran.
The rankings are decided by evaluation of the universities according to key performance indicators. These indicators are divided into 5 major categories. These are teaching, research, citations, international outlook and industry income.
The number of universities was increased from 400 universities from 41 countries to 800 universities from 71 countries this year.
Pakistan’s education spending has not even exceeded 3% of its total GDP in the previous years, a woefully low amount for any country.
Take a look at government spending for education in the previous years here:
Given the spate of increasing reports against the falling standard of higher education in Pakistan, it is high time that the government took notice of the academic emergency here.
Of course its a problem that needs more than just throwing money at it. We need better professionals, and honest professionals at that. It is hoped that the concerned quarters should get into action before its too late.
Via The News
