Islamabad universities shine and rise

Four of the seven Pakistani universities that could make it to top 1,000 universities of the world are located in Islamabad. They are: Quaid-i-Azam University, International Islamic University, COMSATS University, and National University of Science and Technology (NUST).

Times Higher Education (THE) has released The World University Ranking, according to which Oxford University retains its number 1 position while Cambridge drops one position to number three among other major upheavals. But our concern is universities of Pakistan.

Overall, it is a sad state of affairs that only seven universities of Pakistan are counted among top 1,000 universities of the world. That said, it is a source of solace that Quaid-i-Azam University is among the top 500 universities of the world. Islamabad is a new city compared with Lahore, Karachi, Multan etc. But it has the honour of housing four out of these seven universities and the government is ought to celebrate this achievement of our city.

My readers would understand that in this space I have written a series on the 45 per cent cut in higher education budget this year by the government. HEC Chairman Dr Tariq Banuri has spoken openly that such measures are going to leave a negative impact on already abysmal state of higher education in the country.

Our spending on higher education falls in the least category compared with other developing countries and we have now seen that prominent educationists are duly concerned about it, given the constant decline of our universities on global canvass.

If you visit all the four leading universities of Islamabad, you will find that QAU looks the least attractive. No high security pomp or lavish offices, the university is tucked in encroachments. Encroachers have even built houses bang on the campus. Office of the VC is on the first floor that also has other admin offices. The university may have uneven roads but it is offering our youth the most even path to success.

Why so? On top of it, the professional leadership of QAU VC Prof Dr Muhammad Ali is the main reason for excellence of this institution. I have interviewed him twice and at both occasions I found him full of purpose. He encourages critical thinking and has a clear concept that relationship between teacher and student is not limited to classroom because teachers give light to students in dark alleys of life.

Second the faculty owns this campus. Many of them are Quaidians and this university is their nostalgia and romance. And third, this is a merit-based institution where children of poor families come and they take education seriously because they have learned it the hard way.

International Islamic University, where I teach media studies, has made its mark. It is no longer reduced to Sharia and Law Department, as it has been for long, though this department remains its identity under the wise chairmanship of Prof Dr Azizur Rehman. This university now has very vibrant social and basic sciences departments and its international outlook is rivalled only by LUMS. IIUI research institutes have explicitly contributed in policy making at national level and it is an attraction to international scholars.

COMSATS University Islamabad and NUST both deserve praise and applause for making Pakistan in general and Islamabad in particular proud. Now that Islamabad has brought out higher education potential on international level, it is about time the decision-makers worked out ways to make education easier to get and make Islamabad cheaper to live for students so that the city may bring us more laurels in the future.