Recent Governmental Agendas on Private
Higher Education in Pakistan
(Entry by Prachayani
Praphamontripong)
PROPHE Summary:
The Pakistani authority has announced policies on several key issues
on private higher education. The government agreed to expedite the establishment
of 9 engineering universities with partnering countries such as Austria,
Germany, Japan, etc. While these countries will handle administration
and personnel of the universities, the Pakistani government will fully
take care of the finance. Another issue concerns illegal and substandard
universities run by the private sector. The government directs the provincial
authorities to close down any private universities illegally operating
and downgrade any institutions that fail to improve their standard.
For a full story, see Global News Bites, May 11, 2006, "Musharraf
Announces 50 pc Increases in Educational Budget."
PROPHE Observation:
Pakistan-like China, India, Honduras, Iraq, and many countries reported
on PROPHE-encourages PHE and cross-border partnership. The pursuit of
international recognition and collaboration is a salient trend and we
are witnessing ample number of transnational universities. Such a trend,
in turn, increases ambiguity in private-public distinctiveness as in
the Pakistani illustration: the 9 universities will be publicly funded
while privately administered. Another matter is governmental control
over PHE quality also evidenced elsewhere. The Pakistani authority has
dealt with illegal universities and PHE standard for years (See Pakistan
#1 and #3 in PROPHE News Features). Such an issue is believed to continuously
call for serious attention from many governments, not only those having
cross-border partnership but those with domestic diploma-mills as well.
