Pakistan's mirage of higher education

Twenty-four years ago, on September 11, 2002, Gen Pervez Musharraf signed the Higher Education Commission Ordinance, launching Pakistan's ambitious higher education reforms. This legislation dissolved the University Grants Commission and created the Higher Education Commission (HEC) with vast autonomy. Over five years, the budget for higher education skyrocketed by 5,000 percent, and billions were invested in new universities.

A landmark agreement was reached with the US for a $150 million Fulbright scholarship program, along with 5,000 PhD scholarships for foreign universities and 3,000 indigenous scholarships.

Professor C.N.R. Rao, former chairman of India's Scientific Advisory Council, praised Pakistan's science sector, stating that it had tripled scientist salaries in recent years. Despite the promising start, the system now faces mounting debts, poor educational outcomes, and questionable scholarship programs. Bangladesh, influenced by Pakistan's reforms, has adopted a similar higher education commission ordinance, but the HEC's autonomy has been challenged, and funding has been drastically reduced.

Today, Pakistan has 278 universities, a 400 percent increase since 2002, and over two million students, a 600 percent increase. Gender parity has been achieved, with equal male and female student enrollment. Pakistan's academic publication count has risen dramatically, from 1,600 in 2002 to over 45,000 in 2025, earning over a thousand researchers a place in Stanford University's list of the world's top two percent scientists.

However, beneath these impressive figures lies a struggling system with financial distress, delayed salaries, and pension issues in many universities. The federal government recently approved a Rs2 billion bailout for Quaid-i-Azam University in Islamabad, highlighting the severity of the crisis. With its silver jubilee year approaching, Pakistan's higher education experiment stands at a critical juncture, requiring careful assessment of its achievements and mistakes to chart a path forward.