QAU Alumni demands bailout package for university

Islamabad :The Quaid-e-Azam University (QAU) Alumni Association on Thursday greeted QAU administration, faculty, old and current students over inclusion of Quaid-e-Azam University among top 500 universities of the world as per the recent global university ranking announced by Times Higher Education.

They demanded that in view of continuous best performance by this federal prime university, federal government should announce special bailout package to overcome the financial problems being faced by QAU. They said that old QAU would continue to contribute for the betterment of their alma mater in every possible way.  They also announced to celebrate the QAU achievement throughout country.

The greetings were extended in a statement issued by President Quaid-e-Azam University (QAU) Alumni Sikandar Ahmed Rai and Secretary General Murtaza Noor.  Quaid-e-Azam University, as sole Pakistan university, not only remained successful in securing the position in top 500 universities but also improved its performance and ranking from 601-800 (previous year) to 401-500.The rankings reflected  a decline from last year’s list which had seven Pakistani institutes and  now only four Pakistani universities have been ranked among top 1000 world universities.

Terming improvement in QAU ranking, as international recognition of 50 years dedicated contribution made by QAU faculty, students and employees, they said that it is real matter of pride for all old students of this great alma mater. They said that despite severe funding constraints, delay in approval of development plans, deliberative campaigns and illegal occupation of its land, QAU competed and remained at top at national, regional and international university rankings.

Out of the 188 universities recognised by Pakistan’s Higher Education Commission, only four have made it to the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2018.The two top slots  were secured by the University of Oxford and Camb¬ridge university with the California Institute of Technology claiming the third place, according to the 14th annual edition of the rankings.

Overall, European institutions occupy half of the top 200 places, with the Netherlands and Germany joining the UK as the most-represented countries. Italy, Spain and the Netherlands each have new number ones.

Another notable trend is the continued rise of China. The Asian giant is now home to two universities in the top 30: Peking and Tsinghua. The Beijing duo now outrank several prestigious institutions in Europe and the US. Meanwhile, almost all Chinese universities have improved, signalling that the country’s commitments to investment has bolstered results year-on-year.

The Quaid-i-Azam University in Islamabad secured a spot in the 401-500 band — which is an improvement from their ranking last year as they were in the 601-800 top universities group. This year, COMSATS Institute of Information Technology and the National University of Sciences and Technology were in the 601-800 band while the University of Agriculture in Faisalabad secured a place in the 801-1,000 group.

The rankings reflect a decline from last year’s list which had seven Pakistani institutes, including Karachi University, BZU Multan  and University of Lahore, among the top 1,000 in the world.

Among the 188 public and private sector universities in Pakistan only  four got ranked among the top 1000 world universities  as compared to 30 from India, 60 from China, 14 from Iran, 16 from Turkey, , 5 from Saudia Arabia, 8 from Malaysia, 71 from Japan, 27 from South Korea, 20 from Taiwan and 6 from Hong Kong. Neighboring India has become the strongest South Asian nation in the region with effective representation of 30 higher education institutes.

Earlier, as per QS Higher Education System Strength Rankings 2016, Pakistani higher education system ranked at the bottom among 50 countries, with a score of 9.2 when compared with other nations like China 83.5, South Korea 80.1, Singapore 62.3, India 60.9, Chile 46.7 and Saudi Arabia 36.7.