2 Pakistani universities among top 200 Asian institutions in Times Higher Education Ranking 2016

Islamabad: No Pakistani university succeeded in making its place in 100 Asian universities according to Times Higher Education (THE) Asia University Ranking 2016. This ranking and the position of Pakistan is certifying the depressing situation of higher education of the country.

On the other hand, for the very first time in the history of THE, the Asian universities ranking has been expanded to 200 universities which let the two Pakistani universities to feature in the list.

Quaid-i-Azam University Islamabad (QAU) stands at the 101st place among the top 200 universities whereas National University of Science and Technology (NUST) has been ranked at 121 in the (THE) list.

According to the recently issued universities ranking, India is the strongest South Asian country in the rankings having eight universities among the top 100 and 16 varsities among the top 200 while its neighboring states Pakistan and Bangladesh have only 3 institutes between them in the second half of the list.

Read More: No Pakistani University emerges among 100 top Asian Universities by QS Ranking 2016

The personal analysis of Times Higher Education on the latest ranking states the educational institutes of Pakistan and Bangladesh are hot on the heels of their regional competition, however the investment in higher education remains a major issue.

For the first time, two universities of Singapore make their place in top universities ranking whereas mainland China and Japan are the most-represented countries.

All the universities in Timed Higher Education Asia Ranking system are judged on the basis of their main duties including teaching, research, knowledge transfer as well as international outlook, to deliver the most comprehensive and balanced comparisons available.

The National University of Singapore (NUS) topped Asian universities ranking list whereas Nanyang Technological University (NTU) of the same country shared second position with Peking University of China.

Top Ten Universities by (THE) Asian Universities Ranking 2016 

Total 55 universities of China have featured in the ranking list. Iran has 4 universities in the list as compared to 11 universities from Turkey, 6 institutes from Israel, 3 institutes from Saudia Arabia, 4 universities from Malaysia, 24 universities from Taiwan and 6 universities from Hong Kong.

While sharing his views on the latest Asian universities ranking, Jamil Salmi, the earlier coordinator of the World Bank’s tertiary education programme, says that there is still enough space for the enhancement of the regional’s institutes.

He further added:

“Pakistan had an exceptional start in the 2000s, along with considerable improvements and higher levels of funding. Unluckily, the political disaster of the past few years has also affected the higher education sector negatively.”

The South Asia regional manager of British Council for higher and further education, Ismail Badat, agrees that South Asian universities really need to;

“Improve the sector while raising the standards of provision as well as quality assurance mechanisms”.

Overall Asian Universities Ranking 2016 by Times Higher Education

As per professionals, the ranking of government sector universities announced by the Higher Education Commission (HEC) of Pakistan has numerous mistakes. Several education experts believe that the ranking must be carried out by independent bodies according to the international practices and being funding agency, Higher Education Commission (HEC) must not involve in any ranking of universities.

Read More: Pakistan’s Higher Education Commission at the bottom of QS Higher commission ranking list

Moreover, they are of the view that in HEC ranking system, the factors being adopted by QS and Times Higher Education are mostly ignored due to which Pakistani universities are unable to compete along with the national and international universities.

According to formerly announced QS ranking, no Pakistani university could succeed to be involved among top 100 universities.

According to QS Higher Education System Strength Rankings 2016, Pakistani higher education system has been ranked at bottom with only 9.2 score.