The western education system, especially higher education, has always been a template for the rest of the world to copy. Though European and North American universities in general have always been considered a role model for the rest of the world to follow the big three amongst these have always been the United States of America, Britain and Germany. The public and private universities of these three countries have the highest intake of international students. Universities of these three countries have also led the world in other criteria such as publishing of high-quality research papers, endowment funds, infrastructure and quality of faculty. Although these Big Three too have their own pros and cons and neither of their systems is perfect per se, but nonetheless these are the best humanity has and are the focus of this article and how they relate to Pakistan’s higher education system.

USA has roughly a million international students studying in its institutions and half of this number is from China and India alone. This highlights its ability to attract top talent especially in the field of sciences where most of these foreign students are enrolled in along with a great number of locals. It also has the second largest number of universities in the world with 5,759 universities offering largest number of degrees in the world in fields ranging from sciences to humanities to law etc. In terms of international university rankings, USA has the most with 56 universities amongst the top 100 list. The U.S.A also tops the list of most citable research papers published with around 12 million research papers published annually which is 4 million more than China which is second on the list and twice as much as United Kingdom and Germany combined which are third and fourth respectively. The combined value of endowment funds of U.S universities is 691 billion U.S dollars which dwarfs the GDP of most of the countries. The educational system of U.S is focused on taking examinations throughout the year, assigning weightage to various academic and extra-curricular activities so that students are not focused on year-end examinations only but have to perform consistently throughout the academic year while being involved in practical learning and experimentation. A strong focus on research exists especially in the field of sciences and engineering, making USA the hub of innovation and technological progress for the past hundred years. Due to its diversity, flexibility, infrastructure, faculty, financial resources and global recognition there is no doubt that it is one of the best education systems in human history. The only downside of this system is very high tuition fee. Quality comes at a cost and education is no exception. U.S tuition fees cross 50,000 dollars per annum and including living costs an entire program can end up costing 300,000 dollars for a 4-year enrollment. These costs make their higher education system extremely elusive and only 38% of adults in the country have graduated from a university compared to 46% for UK and around 50% for Germany.

Universities in the UK and Germany also possess a vast infrastructure backed by experienced faculty and a large number of private and public universities that serve hundreds of thousands of local and international students. However, UK programs are shorter than those in the United States and several of them can end in three years or less compared to the standard four years or more in the United States.

Furthermore, UK universities are more focused on final year examinations as a means of judging a student’s academic performance with a stronger focus on academics rather than a holistic approach of assessing on several factors such as extra-curricular and research-based activities. Classroom discussion and assignments as well as practical projects are not graded in the U.K normally or at least have less focus compared to US. UK universities are also more course specific and once you enroll in a major, give you less wiggle room to broaden your horizons and take different courses whereas US universities give you two years just to declare your major so that you can explore your interests and broaden your horizons. Students in US universities change their major two to four times on average. UK universities however are cheaper than their US counterparts and thus more accessible to students from all economic segments. The criteria for admission into UK universities is also less complex than US universities since they focus solely on academic achievement rather than US universities that look at candidates more holistically.

Germany on the other hand has a two-tier education system that is quite unique compared to its UK and US counterparts. A great deal of the population does not go onto college since many people go directly into an apprenticeship as a secretary, plumber, technician, nurse bank clerk etc. right after high school since these jobs require on-job training rather than degrees. One does what one is simply good at in Germany as no job is looked down upon even if wage gaps exist and it is well recognized that college and formal education isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. It is also acknowledged that an abundant supply of certain majors isn’t necessary for proper functioning of a society since the economy can only accommodate so many engineers, doctors and lawyers in the first place. This has led to only thirty percent of adults gaining a college degree in Germany but if we take into consideration those with vocational training the number is quite high and more than its counterparts. University education is also free in Germany as long as one understands the German language hence it is the one with the most inclusive education sector amongst the big three. Universities in Germany also have less hand-holding with students given much more freedom and choice when it comes to course selection, study material and methodology, assessments and examinations. Students are expected to take initiatives with regards to course readings and assignments effort required to gain the maximum knowledge.  Germany also follows the UK model of end term exams counting towards 100 percent of your grade. Due to tuition free status German universities also lag behind slightly among the Big Three with regards to infrastructure and research grants.

As a developing country, Pakistan can cherry pick from the big three, adopting their pros and leaving the cons. We have very limited resources and obviously cannot compete with US or UK in terms of endowments size which is a very important factor in developing a good higher education system. Weak economy and skewed government priorities prevent us from spending on education which accounts for less than 2% of Pakistan’s GDP. In the Big Three countries, a massive military-industrial complex also supports education system since their vast and diverse industry ensures employability for most graduates, incentivizing increased investment in education sector by the government and private companies to ensure availability of human resource and increasing state revenues. Boosting investment in education is the first step we need to take. With increased investment in higher education, we will be able to address infrastructure and research grant issues so that the quality, quantity and diversity of Pakistani universities and their graduates can be improved further. At masters and higher levels, focus needs to shift to a research-based criteria for evaluation with an emphasis on ensuring that quality research papers, especially in the field of sciences are published rather than the low quality and mostly plagiarized research content being produced at present. For the past two decades the government has only focused on these aspects in the country without giving any thought to what will happen to students after graduation. It’s no wonder that among approximately 25,000 IT graduates produced annually in our country at present, only a few thousand end up being employed in Pakistan or abroad. Ensuring public sector education remains accessible to all is also important for which federal and provincial governments should contribute through a joint provident fund which like the pensions funds in many countries should be funded through business activities on university owned lands which in the case of Pakistani universities is in abundance. Public sector universities can use public-private partnerships for its utilization to ensure payments of salaries, pensions, research grants and financial aid of university staff and students rather than rely on tax-payers’ money. Corporate endowments and partnerships as well as a strong alumni network can also be utilized as in the US or UK for revenue generation and financial support. Instead of offering random and general courses which have little or no market demand, industry specific and tailor-made programs should be offered.

Above are only some of the initiatives that can be taken for the betterment of higher education in Pakistan. They can be part of a comprehensive national strategy and planning backed by serious intent and consensus among all the stakeholders for execution to push Pakistan upwards in the global educational rankings.

Khawaja Muhammad Ragheeb-ud-Din
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