LONDON: Pakistan’s Quaid-i-Azam University and COMSATS Institute ofInformation Technology — two of its leading institutions — making big gainsin Times University Rankings latest report.
Pakistan has performed well in the latest Times Higher Education (THE) AsiaUniversity Rankings, increasing its representation overall as 10 Pakistanieducational institutions have made it to the top table.
According to the latest rankings, Quaid-i-Azam University is now ranked at79th place — up from the 121-130 band — largely due to a big increase inits citation impact.
“Its teaching environment, research environment, and international outlookalso improved.
“Meanwhile, COMSATS Institute of Information Technology has jumped to 125thplace, from the 141-150 band, also primarily due to an improvement in itscitation performance.”
Pakistan now claims 10 places in the table — up from 7 last year — due tothe expansion of the table to include over 350 universities this year, upfrom around 300 last year.
Times Higher Education stated that while the expansion is good news forPakistan’s overall representation, the increased competition means thatfour of the country’s universities have fallen down the table.
It said Pakistan achieved a higher average score this year, and, onaverage, its universities saw a significant improvement in their citationperformance — one of its traditionally weaker areas. It also picked uppoints in other areas such as international co-authorship.
However, the amount of research income and industry income it received perstaff fell.
With regard to Pakistan, Phil Baty — the editorial director of globalrankings at Times Higher Education — said, “It is a fantastic achievementthat Pakistan now has 10 universities in the Asia rankings and that its twoleading universities have risen up the table.
“But the country’s poor research environment, not helped by lack offunding, is preventing the nation from fulfilling its higher educationpotential.
“Research must be made a priority if the country wants to stand out amongthe heavy competition in the world’s largest continent.”
On the other hand, in context of South Asia as a whole, Baty said, “TheSouth Asian region has increased its representation in the 2018 THE AsiaUniversity Rankings, but is struggling to maintain its standing in the faceof competition from theeast and southeast Asia.
“India is still the region’s leading higher education country, with 42representatives, up from 33 last year, but several of its institutions havedeclined.
“Pakistan’s performance was also mixed; the country has 10 representatives,up from 7 last year, and while its two leading universities have madegains, others have fallen.
“Meanwhile, it is great news that Bangladesh is back in the table, afterlosing out last year, but Sri Lanka’s sole representative, the Universityof Colombo, has plummeted from the 251+ band to the 301-350 band.
“South Asia will need to work hard to stand out among the heavy competitionin the world’s largest continent.”
According to the latest THE Asia Rankings, the rise of China continued.
The People’s Republic now claims almost one in five places in the rankingsand several of its institutions have made strong gains, not least TsinghuaUniversity, which is now the country’s top-ranked institution for the firsttime in the table’s six-year history.
The National University of Singapore holds onto the overall number one spotafter improving its scores in almost all areas.
“But many Asian nations are feeling the competition. While India, Japan,Pakistan, South Korea, Taiwan, and Turkey have all increased theirrepresentation, several of their universities have fallen down the list.
“These countries will need to work hard to stand out among the heavycompetition in the world’s largest continent,” THE Rankings said.