College Enrollment and Graduation Rates in Pakistan

[Riaz Haq]

There are over 3 million students enrolled in grades 13 through 16 in Pakistan's 1,086 degree colleges and 161 universities, according to Pakistan Higher Education Commission report for 2013-14.  The 3 million enrollment is 15% of the 20 million Pakistanis in the eligible age group of 18-24 years.  In addition, there are over 255,000 Pakistanis enrolled in vocational training schools, according to Technical Education and Vocational Training Authority (TEVTA).

Graduation Day at NED Engineering University For 1300 Graduates in 2013

Pakistani universities have been producing over half a million graduates, including over 10,000 IT graduates, every year since 2010, according to HEC data. The number of university graduates in Pakistan increased from 380,773 in 2005-6 to 493,993 in 2008-09. This figure is growing with rising enrollment and contributing to Pakistan's growing human capital.

Rising University Enrollment in Pakistan Starting in 2001-2002. Sou...

Source: UNESCO's Global Education Digest 2009

Higher education in Pakistan has come a long way since its independence in 1947 when there was only one university, the University of Punjab. By 1997, the number of universities had risen to 35, of which 3 were federally administered and 22 were under the provincial governments, with a combined enrollment of 71,819 students. A big spending boost by President Pervez Musharraf helped establish 51 new universities and awarding institutions during 2002-2008. This helped triple university enrollment from 135,000 in 2003 to about 400,000 in 2008, according to Dr. Ata ur Rehman who led the charge for expanding higher education during Musharraf years. There are 161 universities with 1.5 million students enrolled in Pakistan as of 2014.

Former Chairman of HEC summed up the country's higher education progress well in a piece he wrote for The News in 2012: "Pakistan has achieved critical mass and reached a point of take-off. For this phenomenal growth to continue, it is important for the government and other stakeholders to support and further strengthen the HEC as a national institution and protect its autonomy. If this momentum continues for another 10 years, Pakistan is certain to become a global player through a flourishing knowledge economy and a highly literate population".

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[Riaz Haq]

Pakistan Education Statistics 2015-16.pdf

http://library.aepam.edu.pk/Books/Pakistan%20Education%20Statistics...

In Pakistan, there are 3,746 technical and vocational institutions of which 1,123 (30%) are in public  sector, whereas 2,623 (70%) are in private sector.   The total enrolment in the technical and vocational institutions is 0.315 million, of which 0.137 million  (44%) is in public sector, whereas, 0.177 million (56%) is in private sector.   It has been seen that 30% of public technical & vocational institutions are serving 44% of total technical  &  vocational enrolment. While  70%  of  private  institutes  are  serving  for  56%  of  the  private  sector  enrolment.  The total male enrolment in the technical and vocational institutions is 0.203 million (64%), whereas,  the female enrolment is 0.111 million (36%).   The total teachers in the technical and vocational institutions are 18,157 out of those 9,139 (50%) are  in public and 9,018 (50%) are in private sector. There are 13,773 (76%) male teachers and 4,384 (22%)  female teachers.

[Riaz Haq]

IT Industry has contributed 98% to Pakistan’s economy by foreign exchange earnings, Anusha Rehman

https://www.techjuice.pk/it-industry-has-contributed-98-to-pakistan...

Minister of State for Information Technology and Telecom Anusha Rehman on Monday lead the 36th meeting of the Boards of Directors of Pakistan Software Export Board (PSEB) to assess the work being done on various IT initiatives taken by PSEB including Prime Minister’s Internship Programme and Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI).

PSEB Acting Managing Director Syed Iftikhar Hussain Shah updated the board with achievemts of PSB over the last four years. The board was briefed that PSEB has showcased their work at 11 international trade fairs alongside over 65 IT companies, which are making above two thousand leads. This exhibition enhanced the perception of Pakistan as an important destination in terms of outsourcing and investment. According to him, exhibiting at the trade fairs also helped improve the image of Pakistan as a viable destination for outsourcing and investment, because PSEB’s participation in the exhibitions have increased Pakistan’s exports in all the countries that hosted the exhibitions.

According to him, because of the active PSEB technical and financial assistance throughout the past four years, over 30 selected IT professionals and 28 IT companies have been given certificates in Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMi) platform. Apart from this, 134 companies have gotten certifications in ISO 9001, ISO27001 and ISO 20001 as PSEB empowered them to acquire exports from the developed markets.

The minister agreed and added that the great work done by Pakistan’s IT sector is evident from the fact that IT Industry exports have contributed 98% to Pakistan’s economy by foreign exchange earnings and job creation through growth in the past 4 years. She also said, “Due recognition must be extended to our freelancers who have catapulted Pakistan on the 4th spot on the largest freelancing website in the world.”

Anusha felt pride in the fact that Pakistan has a huge number of extremely talented youth, and the government is striving to provide them with the best resources and opportunities.

Anusha said that PSEB in partnership with National ICT R&D Fund (IGNITE) has recruited over 1,700 IT graduates as interns this year for having hands on experience with IT companies, as well as IT departments at Telcos/CMOs, banks, and also educational institutes. Among these interns, more than 60 percent received job offers after the completion of their training tenure.

According to her, the government is going to announce a national level digital skills training program to empower 1 million freelancers of the country who have an experience of over 5 years with the skills that are needed to increase their productivity.

Later, the minister also lead one more meeting and gave her approval for “DigiSkills”— an initiative to mentor 1 million youth with a focus to use technology in the best way by bringing excellence in technology, introducing innovation and respecting work ethics, alongside the vision of building a workforce for a future of the 4th Industrial Revolution.

She commented, “Our educational institutes are producing huge number of graduates every year. More than 20,000 IT graduates and engineers are being produced annually and it’s time that we prepare our workforce for new technologies in line with fast growing trends of freelancing and entrepreneurship.”

[Riaz Haq]

CDWP approves eight higher education projects worth Rs28.9bn

https://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2018/01/15/cdwp-approves-eight-hig...

The Central Development Working Party (CDWP) has approved eight projects pertaining to higher education worth Rs28.9 billion for providing scholarships and strengthening of infrastructure and other facilities.

A mega project worth Rs20.9 billion for Overseas Scholarships (Phase-III) has been approved to send 2,000 Pakistani scholars to foreign universities for doctoral studies.

Other approved projects include establishment of College of Nursing and Community Medicine at Peoples University of Medical Sciences, Nawabshah, with a cost of Rs603 million, establishment of sub-campus of National Textile University at Karachi at a cost of Rs875.5 million, and establishment of Science Laboratory and Creative Art Centre, IBA University, Sukkur at a cost of Rs852.6 million.

Other projects include the development of academic and research facilities at the University of Kotli at a cost of Rs13389 million, the establishment of Women Campuses at Kohat and Bannu worth Rs1958 million and Institute of Science and Technology at Bahawalpur at a cost of Rs2290 million.

It is pertinent to mention that most of the development projects will be executed in less-developed areas such as Nawabshah, Sukkur, Kotli, Bahawalpur, Kohat and Bannu.

HEC, since its establishment in 2002, has been carrying out a comprehensive programme of higher education reforms and institution building and has adopted a holistic approach for expansion and improvement of the sector.

The ultimate goal of the whole effort is that access to quality higher education is increased and the academics, researchers and higher learning institutions play an effective role for developing a knowledge-based economy and identify and provide solutions for various challenges faced by Pakistani society.

[Riaz Haq]

Around 700 Awarded Degrees At PAF Karachi Institute Of Economics & Technology Convocation


https://www.urdupoint.com/en/pakistan/around-700-awarded-degrees-at...


KARACHI, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 18th Feb, 2018 ):As many as 698 graduates were conferred degrees in the disciplines of Management Sciences, Computer Sciences and Engineering at the 15th convocation of Pakistan Air Force - Karachi Institute of Economics & Technology.

The convocation was held at the Convention Centre, PAF Museum, PAF Base Faisal, Karachi, said a statement issued, here on Sunday. The College of Management Sciences awarded 99 degrees in BBA and BSAF, 145 in MBA and 1 in MS-MS degree programs.

The College of Computing & Information Sciences awarded 122 degrees in BSCS, 48 in BS-ERP, 28 in MCS, 5 in MBA-ERP, 10 in MS-CS and 41 degrees were awarded to BCA and 6 to MCA graduates. Furthermore, the College of Engineering awarded 11 degrees to MS-EE and 182 to the graduates of BE Electronics degree program.

Vice Chief of the Air Staff, Air Marshal Farooq Habib, was the Chief Guest at the occasion and awarded Gold and Silver Medals to the distinguished students. The chief guest emphasised the importance of higher education and the significance of research and development for the progress of the country.

In his welcome address, President of the Institute, Air Vice Marshal (retd) Tubrez Asif, praised the efforts of the students and faculty while emphasising the role of education in the development of Pakistan.

He thanked the chief guest for his presence at the convocation. The names and degree programs of the gold medalists are Sarang Saeed Agha BBA; Yusra Mansoor BSCS; Saaniya Sualeh Faisal BE; Hoor-Ul-Ain Durrani BCA; Shiza Kokab Iqbal BS-ERP; Fawad Musharaf MCS; Muhammad Araib Khan MBA; Muhammad Mubeen MS-SE; Ayesha Hassan MS-EE.

The names and degree programs of the silver medalists are Muhammad Amin BBA; Omaima Tauqeer BSCS; Abdul Rehman BE; Rana Raheel Naseer BS-ERP; Binish MBA; Asma Mazhar MS-EE. APP/pas/mkm/

[Riaz Haq]

In Pakistan, students despite being the major stakeholder in higher education sector with enrollment of more than 1.7 million at 190 universities and 114 regional campuses, are missed out in the mainstream debate of higher education policies. They are not even consulted for any major policy decision. During 1970s, there was effective representation of students in the universities’ statutory decision making forums i.e senate and syndicate. The university campuses were centres of student activities i.e dialogues, poetry sessions, theatre performance, study circles and interaction with distinghsued speakers. Such useful activities were greatly helped in inculcating values and qualities of leadership, active citizenship, and good communication, culture of dialogue, peace, tolerance, co-existence, and harmony.

https://nation.com.pk/19-Jul-2018/student-centric-higher-education-...

[Riaz Haq]

National Assembly Standing Committee on Federal Education and Professional Training was on Monday informed that currently around 3 million students were studying in country-wide public and private sector 195 universities (grade 15-16)

https://dunyanews.tv/en/Pakistan/492413-Currently-3mn-students-stud...

In his briefing to the committee on Monday, Chairman Higher Education Commission (HEC) Dr Tariq Banuri said the number of students was being increased from 10 to 15 percent each year.

The committee meeting held here under the Chairmanship of Member National Assembly (MNA) Najeeb Ud Din Awaisi was also attended by the other committee members and officials from PEIRA, HEC, AIOU and Ministry of Federal Education.

Dr Tariq Banuri further said that HEC distributes the government funds of higher education to the universities. Around 15,000 research journals had been published last years, the Chairman said adding that HEC provides funds of Rs one billion to the universities in term of research work.

To a question of committee member that whether HEC foreign scholars come back after completing education, the Chairman HEC replied that the return ratio of HEC scholars from abroad was around 97 percent. This return ratio, he said was better than many other countries.

MNA Ali Nawaz Awan asked about the conditions of HEC for awarding registration to the private higher educational institutions as the number of private universities in federal capital was increasing speedily.

Replying the question, Dr Tariq Banuri said that HEC do not manage the universities but regulate them. He further said that HEC reviewing this issue and the universities which were violating the HEC rules in educational programs that were being banned for further admissions.

Dr Tariq also told the standing committee on federal education that HEC funds were being reduced and requested the committee to support HEC in this regard as it would be a major crisis for higher educational institutions.

The committee also stressed the need of capacity building for teachers as professors of Urdu University were lodging FIR’s against its students.

On demand of the committee, the representatives of private educational schools presented the recommendations to make the role of Private Educational Institutions Regulatory Authority (PEIRA) more functional.

President Private Schools Association Zafran Elahi told the committee that PEIRA was being run illegally after 2015.

Secretary Private Schools Association Abdul Waheed said that PEIRA had wasted thousands of rupees deliberately in fake cases.

President Private Schools Network Dr Afzal Babar said that PEIRA had failed in its basic aim of registration, regulation and promotion of the institutions.

[Riaz Haq]

Pakistan Education Statistics 2016-17

http://library.aepam.edu.pk/Books/Pakistan%20Education%20Statistics...

There are 1431 degree colleges of which
1,271 (89%) are in public sector,
whereas 160 (11%) are in private sector.
The total enrolment at degree college
stage i.e. in grades 13 and 14, is 0.956
million. Out of these students at this
stage of education, 0.825 million (86%)
are completing their degrees from public
sector, whereas, rest of the 0.130 million
(14%) students are in private sector.
There are only 11% degree colleges that
are functioning under private sector of
education, the reason is that these
colleges tend to be more expensive than
public colleges. There may be few
diversified graduate programs in these
colleges. The classes are normally small,
more intimate learning experience.
Therefore, the private sector is least
interested in opening degree colleges.
As far as quality of education is
concerned, there is no doubt that
private sector is providing high quality of
education. In order to enhance the
quality of education the government
should develop public-private
partnership even at this level of
education.
The total boys’ enrolment* at degree
colleges’ stage is 0.115 million (56%),
whereas, the girls enrolment is 0.089
million (44%).
The total teachers at degree colleges
level are 37,857 out of which 35,481
(94%) are in public and 2,376 (6%) are in
private sector.
* Gender segregated data for Punjab not available

---------------------

There are total 185 universities
providing their services in both public
and private sectors of education. Out of
these universities, 110 (59%) are
working under umbrella of public sector,
whereas 75 (41%) are working under the
supervision of private sector.
The total enrolment in the universities,
i.e., at post graduate stage, is 1.463
million. Out of this enrolment 1.192
million (81%) students are enrolled in
public universities, whereas, 0.270
million (19%) students are studying in
private universities. Despite the fact
that there are more universities in public
sector, there are less students in these
universities as compared to private
sector.
The total male enrolment in the
universities is 0.795 million (54%),
whereas, the female enrolment is 0.667
million (46%).
The total teachers in the universities are
58,733 out of which 40,258 (69%) are in
public and 18,475 (31%) are in private
sector.

[Riaz Haq]

#Pakistan government sets aside Rs 24 billion for 4-year scholarships for 200,000 undergraduates under #Ehsaas Program. Half of the scholarships allocated for #girls from poor families. #EhsaasUndergraduateScholarshipProgram #PTI #ImranKhan #education https://gn24.ae/97f9678ed4c8000

Prime Minister Imran Khan gave away need-based Ehsaas undergraduate scholarships in the first phase to the first batch of deserving bright students on Monday.

As part of Ehsaas, 2 per cent of scholarships will be exclusively awarded to students with special needs.

The flagship programme is being implemented across the country and, according to the Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Poverty Alleviation & Social Safety and Chairperson of Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP), Dr Sania Nishtar, these scholarships will cover 100 per cent of the tuition fee and a living stipend of Rs4,000 (Dh95.11) per month.

The geographical spread of the programme, according to Nishtar, will cover all four provinces, Pakistan-Administered Kashmir and Gilgit Baltistan (GB).

Every year, 50,000 students from low-income families will be awarded scholarships for 4- to 5-year undergraduate degree programmes, she said.

The success and continuation of scholarship programme in future years will depend upon the efficacy, maintenance of academic performance by the students and the evaluation of the desired results.

The programme will be overseen by the Ehsaas Scholarships Steering Committee, co-chaired by HEC chairman BISP chairperson.

According to the poverty alleviation division, the scholarship programme seeks to eliminate inequality in access to higher education.

“Unlike past scholarships that were aimed at MS or PhD programmes, Ehsaas Scholarships focus on the most critical segment namely the 4-year undergraduate programme, which contributes the most to income potential,” said Dr Sania Nishtar.


Eligibility
All students in Pakistan who are admitted to a four-year degree programme in an HEC-recognised public sector university or its affiliated colleges, with family income below a poverty threshold (to be fixed every year by the Ehsaas Scholarships Steering Committee) are eligible to receive the scholarship.

The programme is open to students in all major fields of education, namely agriculture, arts and humanities, business education, engineering, medical, physical sciences, and social sciences.

The final award list is posted publicly at the university, and is also made available on the HEC website as well as the university’s website. Selected students have to open bank accounts, and stipends will be deposited directly into the accounts.

[Riaz Haq]

The (Pakistan) University Grants Commission (UGC) which drew its powers from The University Grants Commission Act, 1974 was replaced by the Higher Education Commission (HEC) in 2002.

http://www.technologyreview.pk/mapping-higher-education-in-pakistan/

A comparison of funding to the universities by the UGC and the HEC is enough to understand the level of commitment to higher education by the successive governments in Pakistan. The UGC provided funding of PKR 7,538.835 million to the universities from financial year 1978-79 to 2001-02 while after the establishment of the HEC, a whopping PKR 115,413.194 million have been pumped into universities by the commission from the financial year 2002-03 to 2015-16.

University education versus school education
The Pakistani universities and DAIs are offering academic and research programs in anthropology, agriculture, space sciences, fisheries and aquaculture, computer science and IT, business and management, engineering and technology, veterinary science, psychology, so on and so forth.

With institutes of higher learning like the Virtual University (VU), the country’s first university based completely on modern information and communication technologies offering academic programs while “using free-to-air satellite television broadcasts and the Internet” and the Information Technology University (ITU) which is nurturing “an environment of hightech research and entrepreneurship with its state-of-the-art facilities, world-class faculty, in-house startups incubator and well-established government and industry linkages,” Pakistan’s higher education landscape is certainly versatile.

The Pakistan Education and Research Network (PERN), an initiative of the HEC, launched in 2002, is providing communication infrastructure to the 250 plus universities and institutes of higher learning, including colleges and research organizations of the country to meet their networking and internet requirements.

Whereas, as per the latest Pakistan Education Atlas, a staggering 46 percent of public sector primary schools (124,284 primary schools) in Pakistan are without electricity. The Pakistan Education Atlas, prepared by the federal government’s Academy of Educational Planning and Management (AEPAM) and UN World Food Program, was launched in September 2015. Besides many others, the country’s school education system is facing challenges of missing facilities. Luckily, most Pakistani universities do not face such challenges.

Scholarships galore

Presently, there are some 40,000 faculty members in public and private sector universities and DAIs of the country and only about 10,000 of them are PhDs which makes it a 25 percent of the total teaching strength in Pakistani universities.

After the establishment of the HEC, Pakistan witnessed a kind of ‘revolution’ in indigenous and foreign scholarships for MPhil and PhD programs both for the faculty members and the students.

The HEC, under its Faculty Development Program (FDP), has so far awarded 2,450 foreign scholarships, executed by universities and DAIs, with maximum 938 scholarships in the discipline of Engineering and Technology. These are followed by 493 scholarships in Physical Sciences and 431 in Social Sciences.

So far, the HEC has sent 7,806 Pakistani students under its Overseas Scholarships Program out of which 5,683 have returned while 2,123 are currently pursuing MPhil leading to PhD or PhD programs abroad. Those who have returned 1,874 scholars completed their studies in Biological and Medical Sciences, 1,406 in Physical Sciences and 979 in Engineering and Technology.

Of those who availed Overseas Scholarships, 1,341 were sent to United States, 1,226 to United Kingdom and 907 to Cuba.

[Riaz Haq]

Higher Education in Pakistan (Pakistan Economic Survey 2019-20


http://www.finance.gov.pk/survey/chapter_20/10_Education.pdf

vii) Degree Colleges (Classes XIII
An enrolment of 0.59 million students is expected during 2018
enrolment of 0.60 million in 2017
were functional during 2017-18.
of students to the professional and vocational
viii) Universities
There were 211 universities with 51.5 thousand teachers in both public and private sectors
functional during 2018-19, according to the data received from
Commission (HEC). The overall enrolment of students in higher education instituti
(universities) increased to 1.86 million in 2018
Overall Assessment
The overall education situation based on
institutes, and teachers, have shown a slight improvement. The total number of enrolments
during 2017-18 was recorded at 51.0 million as compared to 47.6 million during the same
period last year, which shows an increase of 7.1 percent. It is estimated to increase to
million during 2018-19. The number of institutes stood at 262.0 thousand during 2017
compared to 260.1 thousand during last year. However, the number of institutes is estimated
to increase to 266.3 thousand in
The number of teachers during 2017
million during the last year showing an improvement
is estimated to increase to 1.83 million during 2018
0
2500
5000
7500
10000
12500
15000
17500
20000
22500
2016-17 2017-18 P
(In thousand)
Fig-10.1: Enrolment at each level
0
200
400
600
800
2016-17
(In thousand)
Fig-10.3: Teachers at each level
Pakistan Economic Survey 2019-20
17. However, it is estimated to increase by 8.7 percent,
million to 0.47 million during 2018-19.
vii) Degree Colleges (Classes XIII-XIV)
An enrolment of 0.59 million students is expected during 2018-19 in degree colleges against
enrolment of 0.60 million in 2017-18. A total of 1,659 degree colleges with 41,233 teachers
18. The slight decline in enrollment might be due to preference
of students to the professional and vocational courses.
There were 211 universities with 51.5 thousand teachers in both public and private sectors
19, according to the data received from the Higher Education
Commission (HEC). The overall enrolment of students in higher education instituti
(universities) increased to 1.86 million in 2018-19 from 1.58 million in 2017-18.