10,000 new PhDs to be produced under Pak-US Knowledge Corridor

Islamabad: Under Pakistan-US Knowledge Corridor, as many as 10,000 new PhDs will be produced during the next 10 years.

This information was shared at a daylong ‘Pakistan-US University Partnerships Follow-up Workshop’ organised by the Higher Education Commission (HEC) Pakistan in collaboration with the US Embassy. The workshop was aimed at sharing best practices in these partnerships.

In his welcome address, HEC Executive Director Dr. Arshad Ali said the partnerships among the higher education institutions of the two countries will go a long way in achieving remarkable outcomes and targets. He said the partnerships are helping promote higher education in Pakistan as the country’s universities are utilizing the experiences of US partners. He hoped that both the sides will benefit from these initiatives.

Stressing the need for a way-forward to sustain these partnerships, he said the constraints lying in the way of accomplishing objectives of this flagship programme should not be allowed to disturb it. He admired the US Government, people and the US Embassy in Islamabad for their generous support to the people of Pakistan by taking keen interest in becoming of part of HEC’s efforts to promote higher education in the country.

Minister Counsellor, US Embassy, Jeffery Sexton shared an overview of the partnerships between the universities and appreciated HEC for its endeavours to make the programme a success. “These partnerships show HEC’s commitment to academic uplift,” he maintained.

He said the targets achieved through the programme so far reflect the mutual interest of Pakistani and US partners, adding that these partnerships are playing a significant role in building the bilateral relations. He observed that the partnerships have given a new perspective to scholars and critical thinking to faculties, who have witnessed new teaching styles. He hoped that the mutual collaboration will thrive in the years to come.

Speaking on the occasion, HEC Consultant Dr. Mahmood-ul-Hassan Butt shared the core aims of HEC with the workshop participants. He said when HEC was established, it concentrated on three areas including increase in equitable access to higher education, quality, and relevance of programmes to country’s socio-economic growth.

He also highlighted the key expectations associated with the Pakistan-US University Partnerships Programme. He said the programmes covered many subjects including architecture, psychology, computer science, post-doctoral research, development of English language faculty, social sciences, and business management. He said the programme helped learning different ways of university administration, various kinds of research, and classroom management skills, adding that it paved the way for Pak-US strategic dialogue in various fields including S&T. He also highlighted the role of working groups in making the partnerships more useful.

Referring to the concept of Pak-US Knowledge Corridor, Dr. Butt said the idea to have a knowledge corridor with the United States was evolved last year under the agenda of improved educational collaboration. “This will help Pakistani universities learn about the system of US higher education institutions and will lead to the transfer of this system to Pakistan,” he asserted.

During the course of workshop, participants from different universities shared the outcomes of different projects run under the Pak-US University Partnerships Programme. Deputy Director Arizona State University (ASU) Ahmed Saeed shared how the ASU is helping National University of Science and Technology (NUST), Islamabad and University of Engineering and Technology (UET), Peshawar in setting up Centres of Advanced Studies in energy. He said apart from ensuring technical support, the ASU has provided Rs15 million to each of the university for the purpose, adding that each of them have also been extended Rs5 million for construction work. He said the ASU is assisting the two universities in various areas like governance, curriculum development, exchange of faculty, and sustainability.

In her presentation, a representative of Fatima Jinnah Women University (FJWU), Rawalpindi, Sarwat Rasool, briefed the participants about the experience of FJWU partnering with the University of Texas, Auston. She said the two universities have multi-disciplinary partnership, adding that the areas encompassed under the partnership include Behavioural Sciences, Media, Gender Studies, and Fine Arts. Revealing the goals of partnership, she said the partnership aims at enhancement of research, development of courses, and cultural awareness.

Lecturer at National College of Arts (NCA) Mujahid told the workshop participants about the MoU signed between the NCA and University of Texas, Austen. He said the two institutions partnership was initiated in Fall 2015 and it will culminate in Spring 2018. He said the areas covered under the programme include collaborative research, curriculum development, resource sharing, faculty and student exchange, and professional growth of faculty by the US counterparts.

Prof. Dr. Zakariya Zakir from University of the Punjab apprised the participants of the PU partnership with Arizona State University in Sociology and Development Students. He said the partnership was recently marked, adding that it was a good start with collaboration in faculty development, research projects, and formulation of curriculum.

AIOU International Collaboration and Exchange Office Director Zahid Majeed, IBA Sukkur Director/ Vice Chancellor Prof. Nisar Siddiqui and HRD, HEC Adviser Waseem Hashmi Syed also delivered presentations on Pakistan Distance Education Enhancement Programme, a partnership between AIOU and San Jose State University, community colleges, and Pak-US Fulbright Scholarship Programme respectively.

Later, the workshop participants took part in a discussion on ‘’How to Sustain the Partnerships after Formal Conclusion’’ and ‘’Challenges and Opportunities in Partnerships’’. They termed continuation of Pak-US collaboration imperative for transfer of ideas and experiences on the two sides.