New Forms Of Higher Education For Building Pakistan’s Future

ByBryan Penprase, Contributor. Bryan Penprase covers global innovations in

https://www.forbes.com/sites/bryanpenprase/2025/02/18/new-forms-of-...

Pakistan’s future economy will be built through higher education. Pakistan’s economy has been traditionally rooted in agriculture and textiles but is expanding its presence in construction, renewable energy, and IT and its higher education system can provide more opportunities for a young and growing population. The nation’s future economy will be based on technology growth and in manufacturing, mining, and renewable energy. Already, Pakistan has produced many startup companies, such as NayaPay, a fintech payment processing platform founded in 2016, and DealCart, an online grocery store founded in 2022. Both were listed in the Forbes Asia 100 To Watch list in 2024, and new investments from China, Saudi Arabia, UAE, and the US promise to further develop Pakistan’s tech sector.

Pakistan’s meteoric population growth provides unique challenges. In just the past twenty years, its population has grown from 141 million to over 250 million, making Pakistan the fifth most populous country in the world. The median age is estimated at 19 years in 2023, and two thirds of its population is under 30, giving the country the third largest college-age population in the world, surpassed only by China and India. Keeping the most talented, young population within the country is vital for developing its future, yet in 2022 alone, over 760,000 Pakistanis emigrated, including 92,000 highly educated doctors, engineers and other tech professionals.

Pakistan’s Future Depends on Higher Education
To develop and retain its most talented young people, Pakistan urgently needs to expand and upgrade its higher education system. Higher education in Pakistan began with the University of the Punjab, founded in Lahore in 1882 under British Colonial rule. Another early institution, Lahore Mission College, was founded in 1864 and renamed Forman Christian College (FCC) in 1894. Additional public universities were developed after 1947, notably the prestigious Quaid-i-Azam University, founded in 1967 to offer postgraduate programs, and the Allam Igbal Open University, Pakistan’s largest university with over 1 million students, founded in 1974.

By the early 1980’s Pakistan allowed new private universities, enabling the founding of Aga Khan University (AKU) in 1983, with a focus on health sciences, and the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) in 1985. Prominent public universities were also formed recently, such as the top-ranked National University of Science and Technology (NUST), formed in 1991. By 2024, Pakistan had over 240 colleges and universities, enrolling over 3 million students, representing only 11 percent of Pakistan’s college-aged population. While Pakistan’s system lacks capacity to fully serve its large population, many innovative universities including AKU, LUMS, FCC, as well as Habib University are retaining some of Pakistan’s best students to shape Pakistan’s future.

Aga Khan University (AKU) and Medical Education
AKU began as Pakistan’s first private university and hosts the country’s the top-ranked Medical College. With branch campuses opened in 2000 in East Africa, Afghanistan and the UK, AKU has since expanded across Africa to Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda. Despite being small and selective, with under 2000 students, AKU provides affordable health care to over 2 million patients in six countries. The institution is committed to empowering women, who comprise nearly half of its faculty and 60% of its students. AKU also has major programs in teacher education and educational leadership, with Institutes for Educational Development based in Pakistan and East Africa.

Other major universities: LUMS, FCC, Habib,

Profit
@Profitpk
About 8.6% of Pakistanis over the age of 25 have a bachelor's degree or higher. It is a growing number, with college graduates increasing by three times the population growth rate. What does this mean for Pakistan, especially in the age of AI? {THREAD}

https://x.com/Profitpk/status/1895013898937397564

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The state of higher education in Pakistan
How educated is the Pakistani workforce, and what is it prepared for, especially in the age of AI?

February 24, 2025
Farooq Tirmizi
By Farooq Tirmizi

https://profit.pakistantoday.com.pk/2025/02/24/the-state-of-higher-...

The college-educated Pakistani is not yet the majority, but is rapidly becoming part of the norm.

More than half a million Pakistanis graduate from a college or university every year with at least a two-year college degree. A little more than 11% of 30-year-olds in Pakistan have at least a two-year college degree and, judging by the fact that the number of graduates is growing at three times the population growth rate, that number will likely keep on rising for every subsequent generation of 30-year-olds in the country.

So what do those statistics mean? It is by now cliché to assume that the quality of higher education in Pakistan is not good (partly true) and that while the country has a lot of raw talent, the country is not prepared for the rapid advancement of technology that will necessitate a much better trained workforce than the one we have now.


There is no denying the fact that education – both in terms of quality and quantity – is lacking in Pakistan. It is the contention of this publication, expressed through previous analytical writings, however, that the situation can be described as not ideal, but far from hopeless.

While in previous articles we have covered basic literacy and numeracy, in this piece will cover higher education, placing it in both historical context relative to where it has been in Pakistan’s own past, as well as the global context: where Pakistan stands relative to peer economies and geographic neighbours.

We will then examine a question often left unasked: exactly how well-educated does the median Pakistani need to be, given where the country is in its economic evolution? And how has the answer to that question changed with the advent of the recent, more visible, rapid advances in artificial intelligence (AI)?

Islamabad to Get Danish University of Emerging Technologies

https://propakistani.pk/2025/03/15/islamabad-to-get-danish-universi...

The federal government has approved establishment of the Danish University of Emerging Technologies at Sector H-16, Islamabad.

Reports said that the Federal Cabinet, through circulation of summary, approved establishment of Danish University of Emerging Technologies at Sector H-16, Islamabad.

The Capital Development Authority (CDA) had proposed over 100 102.5 Acres (820.75 Kanal) of land located at Sector H-16, Islamabad for establishment of Danish University of Emerging Technologies, Islamabad.

It is pertinent to note that the current government has taken a significant step for promoting quality education in Pakistan for under privileged children, the Daanish School Project which aims to provide quality education to underprivileged and deserving students across Pakistan, particularly in remote and less-developed areas.

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PM announces new university with funds recovered from UK

https://www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?story=20250313124317435

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif this week announced that a new university would be set up in the capital Islamabad using £190 million (US$246 million) recovered by the United Kingdom’s National Crime Agency (NCA) from a Pakistani real estate tycoon.

After Pakistan’s Supreme Court recently released the money from a fine settlement account to the federal government account, Sharif announced it would be used to establish an institution called Daanish University that would focus on applied sciences and boast advanced research facilities. Sharif is to be its patron.

Former prime minister Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi were sentenced in January for corrupt practices related to a case involving Al-Qadir University. Khan, the founder of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) party, was found guilty of using the Al-Qadir University trust to obtain land from Pakistani real estate tycoon Malik Riaz, whose illegal money was seized by the UK authorities and returned to Pakistan in 2019.

According to Judge Nasir Javed Rana, Khan, who was sentenced to 14 years in prison, was guilty of using the office of prime minister to divert the funds from the UK into a fine settlement account of a housing society owned by Riaz, who has since absconded.

Announcing the use of the funds to establish the Daanish University of Applied and Emerging Sciences at a steering committee meeting for the new university chaired by Sharif in Islamabad, the prime minister ordered the land acquisition and a charter for the university to be finalised.

“Daanish University would be an institution where deserving and talented students will receive high-quality, research-based education.

“This university should be developed having international-standard technical and applied sciences and equipped with state-of-the-art technology and advanced research facilities with highly qualified faculty,” the minister said, according to a press statement issued after the meeting.

Like Al-Qadir University, which was established under Al-Qadir Trust, this university will also be established under Daanish Trust. The government maintains that setting up this university under a trust will ensure its independence and financial survival.