Higher Education, Economic Development and Pakistan
Education is regarded as a route to economic prosperity and investment in education in general and in higher education, in particular, is considered as the key to scientific and technological advancement in the 21st century. It plays a pivotal role in human capital formation and serves as an important factor for sustainable socio economic development combating unemployment, confirming the sound foundation of social equity, creating awareness, tolerance, self-esteem, and cultural vitality. It raises the productivity and efficiency of individuals and thus produces the skilled manpower capable of leading the economy towards self-reliance. Therefore higher education institutions, all over the world, play a very critical role in supporting knowledge-driven economic growth strategies and construction of democratic and socially cohesive societies. Higher education institutions assist the improvement of the institutional regime through training of competent and responsible professionals needed for sound macroeconomic and public sector management whereas the academic and research activities in these institutions provide crucial support for the national innovation system.
Unfortunately, Pakistan has
lagged behind in human resources development and is in dire need to have a strong
focus on re-orientation of the education and training system according to the
requirements of the existing and potential future industries to enable itself
to move towards the ‘Knowledge Economy’. Cognizant of the importance of S&T
and higher education institutions in the development of economy, the Government
has placed major emphasis on replacing the obsolete infrastructure in
institutions of higher learning/R&D organizations with state of the art
equipment and developing requisite manpower to develop a sound base in these
areas. In addition to upgrading the required infrastructure in the higher
education institutions, new engineering and technology universities are also
being established to achieve the student enrollment targets of 8% (2 million) by
2015 and 20% (7 million) by 2030.
It is an established fact that no nation can survive
and progress unless its manpower is highly organized, efficient and productive.
It is generally felt that the existing engineering and technical education
being imparted in the country has not been able to cater to the challenges
posed by the new work environment. The system due to various shortcomings is
not meeting the fast-changing requirements of our trade and industry and the
resulting shortage of qualified knowledge workforce is badly impeding prospects
of further growth and progress. The traditional structure of our domestic market has failed to produce competitiveness, enhanced quality, increased
productivity of the industrial and agricultural sectors, and skilled knowledge
workers.
The Manifesto of the present Government entitled ‘Road to Naya Pakistan, Vision 2025, Science and Technology Strategy 2013-18, National Science, Technology and Innovation Policy 2012 and HEC Vision 2025 and National Education Policy 2009 all emphasize to make the knowledge-based economy and relevant, aiming to create Pakistan’s Education system more meaningful, designed to support economic growth and poverty alleviation. At present, there are a total of 224 universities/degree awarding institutions (137 Public Sector and 87 Private Sector) of higher learning in Pakistan. But unfortunately, the existing institutions do not meet the requirements of the market. New as well as emerging technologies have to be introduced and a more effective network with the private sector will have to be established for the benefit of Pakistan’s efforts to alleviate poverty and raise the living standards of its people. A short view of the higher education institutions and a few salient features of the segment of the prospective segment of the population falling in the age bracket of the higher education is given below:
|
·
Population
(Age 17-23 Years) |
22
Million |
|
·
Enrollment
in Higher Education Institutions |
1.91
Million |
|
·
Higher
Education Enrollment Rate |
8.6%
[1] |
This requires the Government of Pakistan to take effective measures to reinvigorate and diversify its ossified agricultural and industrial sector. Not only does it need to provide generalized support in terms of a good macroeconomic environment and infrastructure, but also needs to keenly attend to the specific changing needs of the skilled and technically trained workforce to cope with the emerging revolution of the technological change. In addition to upgrading the existing universities in public and private sector, the major effort underway to increase numbers and quality at universities in all disciplines needs to be sustained, as well as starting several new engineering and technology universities with foreign collaboration. According to estimates, only 1.91 million people i.e.8.6% out of 22 million people within the age group of 17 to 23 years have access to higher education. Pakistan’s current enrolments rate in higher education institutions is low when compared to India and Malaysia.
In Pakistan, the expected enrolments in universities from the existing 8.6% are to reach 20% of the 17 – 23 age group by 2030. In view of addressing the very low rate of participation in higher education in the field of science and technology, ensuring equity and in order to accommodate growing numbers of students the regional, gender financial disparities can be removed through establishing new universities and campuses in the remote areas of Pakistan. In this context, Pakistan needs to take effective measures to reinvigorate and diversify its ossified S&T, industrial, mining hydrology, and other sectors. It needs not only to provide generalized support in terms of a good macroeconomic environment and infrastructure, but also needs to keenly attend to the specific changing needs of the skilled and technically trained workforce in the field of science and technology to cope with the emerging revolution of technological change. The Higher Education Commission is specifically playing its role to facilitate the transformation of Pakistan into a knowledge economy is that of strengthening the science system and the institutions of which it comprises, where the creation of knowledge takes place, and to identify mechanisms for the acceleration of this process, and ensuring the relevance of activities with national development objectives.
The achievement of the above targets is not an easy task. Pakistan will be increasing investment in education as a percentage of GDP from the current level of 1.5 percent[2] to 4 percent within the next five years. Pakistan's manufacturing sector holds the key to whether the country will succeed in regaining the lost ground in the extremely competitive race for development in emerging Asia. This requires the Government of Pakistan to take effective measures to reinvigorate and diversify its ossified agricultural and industrial sector. Not only does it need to provide generalized support in terms of a good macroeconomic environment and infrastructure, but also needs to keenly attend to the specific changing needs of the skilled and technically trained workforce to cope with the emerging revolution of the technological change.
In this context, Pakistan needs to take effective measures to reinvigorate and diversify its ossified agricultural, industrial sector, and S&T sectors. It needs not only to provide generalized support in terms of a good macroeconomic environment and infrastructure, but also need to keenly attend to the specific changing needs of the skilled and technically trained workforce to cope with the emerging revolution of technological change.
The continuously changing national needs must be reviewed properly and addressed for meeting the workforce requirements of a knowledge-based economy. For a nation aspiring to achieve sustainable growth and maintain its competitiveness, emphasis must be placed on creating a knowledge-based environment to attain this goal. Local standards of education must be brought at par with that of foreign education systems. The nature of work and demands for a skilled and knowledgeable workforce is changing in Pakistan and employment opportunities are shifting across industries and occupations whereas several issues continue to constrain the development of a large, highly skilled, and technically competent workforce in the country. It is generally felt that the existing workforce has not been able to cater to the challenges posed by the new work environment, and is unable to meet the fast-changing training requirements of trade and industry in the country.
Currently there is an acute shortage of qualified workforce and the gap between supply and demand is expected to further widen over the next few years. This affords Pakistan has an opportunity to benefit from the market growth and produce quality human resources to take its due share in the global job market. The efforts of the Government have adequately addressed the issue. The all-out support in the form of increased financial allocations for higher education is earnestly helping realize the target of an enlightened Pakistan.
With the expanding industrial, information and communication technology, and infrastructure sectors in Pakistan, there is a big demand for professionals, engineers and technologists with integrated knowledge and skills of new technologies. A highly skilled and competent workforce equipped with the latest techniques is the most important pre-requisite of day to harness the benefits of the advancements taking place in the world.
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