Research Environments in Pakistan:

Challenges and Solutions

Dr. Waqar Mahmood HoD Communications Systems

22 March 2005

2 22 March 2005

Outline

Research related statistics Significance of research for a knowledge based economy Students/Teachers research capacity development Infrastructure needs Funding support

Public Private

Some facts about Pakistan Hope for the future

3 22 March 2005

Pakistan: Research and Development World Bank Report, Jan. 2004 Extracts

“In Education Pakistan appears to be at least 35 – 40 years behind East Asian Countries, and 10 – 15 years behind the South Asian Countries”

During the past decades, “per-student spending at higher education levels declined by as much as 50% in real terms”

“The next few years represent a period of great opportunity for Pakistan to accelerate its economic & social development”

Source: HEC

4 22 March 2005

The Demographic Challenge

YearPopulation (Millions)

Age group 17-23 years 2.60% 4.00% 6.00% 8.00%

2000 142.16 18.00 0.53 0.72 1.08 1.442005 164.80 21.38 0.62 0.86 1.28 1.712010 191.05 25.39 0.72 1.02 1.52 2.032015 221.48 30.16 0.83 1.21 1.81 2.412020 256.76 35.82 0.97 1.43 2.15 2.87

The status of population growth and university education

Source: HEC

5 22 March 2005

Key Areas of Improvement Access

Low enrollment in higher education Quality

Poor standard of faculty and lack of training / capacity building

Low quality of teaching & research and lack of relevance to national needs

Poor governance of universities Relevance

Minimal relevance of higher education to national needs

50 Years of Neglect

6 22 March 2005

EXPORT PERFORMANCE

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

1960 1980 1985 1990 1995 1999 2000 2001 2002

Pakistan Thailand Malaysia Korea China

1960 2002

Pakistan 0.16 9.88

Thailand 0.43 68.62

Malaysia 1.23 95.65

Korea 0.03 162.47

China 2.79 325.56

US$ BILLIONUS$ BILLIONCHINA

KOREAKOREA

MALAYSIAMALAYSIATHAILANDTHAILAND

PAKISTANPAKISTAN

Source: WTO, Database

COMPARISON: SELECTED COUNTRIESCOMPARISON: SELECTED COUNTRIES

1960-80 in Korea employment of GMs doubled while that of engineers Increased Ten Fold.

7 22 March 2005

Research in Education Fuels National Growth

Socio-Economic Development PlansEconomic, Industrial, Services

Infrastructure, Governance, Defence

Research in Education: Knowledge Base

Human Capital

Implementation

National Growth

Trained Manpower

Government

Society

Education

8 22 March 2005

Talented people are born anywhere in the world they are not a privilege of developed countries!Talented people without education, however, will remain talented but uneducated people!Talented, but uneducated people:

• will not contribute much to their country’s development

• some of them will even use their talents in a detrimental way

Human Capital: Talented and Educated PeopleHuman Capital: Talented and Educated People

9 22 March 2005

Maxwell, Thomson, Rutherford, Curie, Fermi, Dirac, Einstein (physics), Watson, Crick (biology), Mendeleev, Pauling (chemistry), Fleming, Pasteur (medicine)….have dramatically changed our world through their research followed by its technological applicationsAll these scientists were not just talented, they were found to be talented as they were educated!Therefore, without education their talents would have been lost for the progress of mankind!

Educated not just Talented PeopleEducated not just Talented People

10 22 March 2005

Educated people are a necessary, but not a sufficient condition for the development of a country: A country’s wealth thus depends on its educated people producing items or providing services - commerce or just selling natural resources does not produce wealth

Natural Resources & InfrastructureNatural Resources & Infrastructure

11 22 March 2005

72149

291454

2,1932,319

2,7993,676

4,8284909

0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000

Pakistan

India

Turkey

China

Korea

Ireland

Finland

United States

Israel

Japan

Council of Higher Education, Turkey-Web Site

Numbers

S&E Researchers per Million Inhabitants

12 22 March 2005

Japan is a striking example: it was a poor island nation with few natural resources and bad infrastructure (as well as closed ports until the late 19th century) - but Japan always had a strong tradition for good education.

Some 30 years after its “opening to the World” Japan’s navy destroyed the Russian fleet at Tsushima. One generation later, and (like Germany) following its total destruction, Japan (with less inhabitants than Pakistan) succeeded to rebuild its country to become the second most powerful economy on the globe

When Japan “opened up ” in about 1880, it When Japan “opened up ” in about 1880, it began to complement the education of its began to complement the education of its most talented people by sending them to most talented people by sending them to study in “developed countries”.study in “developed countries”.

Best Capital Investment Country = Best Capital Investment Country = Talented and Educated PeopleTalented and Educated People

13 22 March 2005

An obsolete or decrepit infrastructure in universities, institutes or hospitals, inadequate equipment, poor communication networks, and to a certain degree also low salaries etc. cause the best scientists to migrate to better equipped countries whilst the other scientists “stay at home”

Next to the need for educated people, a country needs modern and competitive infrastructure and proper tools as the working environment

Need of a Need of a Modern InfrastructureModern Infrastructure

14 22 March 2005

A “Developing Country” with a poor infrastructure (in particular in the area of science, research and education) is often providing, “free of charge”, its most talented people (who’s education it paid from its scarce resources) to Developed Countries

Therefore, investments in education are wasted if no investments are also made in the science, research and education infrastructure (+ salaries)

Brain DrainBrain Drain

15 22 March 2005

Research in Education Fuels National Growth

Socio-Economic Development PlansEconomic, Industrial, Services

Infrastructure, Governance, Defence

Research in Education: Knowledge Base

Human Capital

Implementation

National Growth

Trained Manpower

Government

Society

Education

16 22 March 2005

Need for an Integrated Approach Simultaneous Bi-Modal Approach Required

Bottom-Up Primary and Secondary Education Infrastructure

Top-Down Higher Education Technology Development Industrial Linkages Research Centers

17 22 March 2005

Government

Politics and economy

Environment, culture, tradition, national character

EconomicPolicy

InfrastructureDevelop Social

EducationPolicy

Labour PolicyScience and

Technology Policy

PolicyTax and Financial

Knowledge Base

Utilize Knowledge Produce KnowledgeHuman resourcesDevelopment and supply

Collaboration

Universities Productive Sectors

Create knowledge Improve education level

Improve productivity

Product and Services Market

Innovations Demand

Market

Policy

Society

Need for An Integrated Approach

Knowledge base

Industry

18 22 March 2005

Research in Education: Strategic Aims

Good Governance & Management

Quality Assurance: Standards, Assessment, Accreditation

Research Capacity

Development

FacultyDevelopment

Improving Access &

Infrastructure

Relevance to National PrioritiesC

ore

Supp

ort

19 22 March 2005

Students Research Capacity Development Develop basic skills for research

(Undergraduate) Independence Encouragement for study outside of the text book Emphasis on original discovery Analytical thinking Logical decision making skills Encourage International publication in the final year

Improvement in Math skills Improvement in English reading/writing

20 22 March 2005

Students Research Capacity Development Provide Opportunities for Research (Graduate)

Faculty with active research interest and achievement Research collaborations Access to research journals – library resource Masters with thesis only option International Seminars, Workshops and Conferences

on premises Travel allowance for students getting paper published

in reputed conferences (Peer reviewed, Impact Factor)

21 22 March 2005

Faculty Research Capacity Development PhD - a must for the University faculty

Support in terms of PhD Scholarships Research incentives for faculty

Honorarium for publications / supervision Seed research grants

Post doctoral fellowships Sabbatical and Adjunct research positions at

prestigious Institutes of higher learning world wide Reverse Brain Drain

Hire Foreign Faculty Provide incentives for researchers to return home

22 22 March 2005

Technology Infrastructure for Research : University Computerization & Networking

Computer Laboratories Campus wide high-speed LAN Computerization of Administration

Research Centers Development State of the art lab equipment Scientific Instrumentation Analysis tools and software

Digital Library Distance Education

Educational TV Channels Video Lecturing

23 22 March 2005

Relevance to National Needs

Relevant Industry Agriculture Sector: Food Technology Textile Petroleum Sector (Geology & Mining) Automotive Industry Chemical Information Technology

Technology Incubation Centers Public Sector Industry - Incentives for

Collaborative Research AWC, NTC , NESCOM, PTCL, PCSIR ….

24 22 March 2005

2.0 million internet users 8.4 million mobile phone users Over 400 cities connected to internet VoIP, GPRS capability Islamabad ranked among best cities in Asia by

Asiaweek Magazine (April 2002) Outside of U.S. and U.K. 10% of all English speaking

people in the world live in Pakistan.

Pakistan (little known facts)

25 22 March 2005

Violent Crime Rate(Per 1000 People)

Seventh United Nation Survey of Crime Trends and Operations of Criminal Justice System. Covering 1998-2000 for Country Data FBI Uniform Crime Report for City Data

9.77 10.8 13.21 13.53 14.16 14.32 16.313.09

49.5

05

101520253035404550

NYC UK

USA LAPak

istan

Dallas

Chicago

India

Mexico

26 22 March 2005

Research Focus Outcome

Research Culture Revived 40% increase in international publications 52 international conferences held in Pakistan (2004) 243 Conference Travel Grants by HEC

More grants by PTCL, PSF, and University resources

Research Grants (HEC) 143 Peer Reviewed Projects

IDB Bank Prize for Best Science Institute in the Muslim World HEJ Institute of Chemistry, Karachi University

Source: HEC

27 22 March 2005

Conclusions

Knowledge is expanding at an exponential rate Important to address the knowledge gap between Pakistan

and developed countries in an aggressive manner Focus on indigenous Research and Development at the

University and Industry level is crucial Scientific collaborations with reputed Institutes of higher

learning are important Budgetary allocations for education at all level needs

immediate revamp