Welcome to UK

United Kingdom, constitutional monarchy in northwestern Europe, officially the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Great Britain is the largest island in the cluster of islands, or archipelago, known as the British Isles. England is the largest and most populous division of the island of Great Britain, making up the south and east. Wales is on the west and Scotland is to the north. Northern Ireland is located in the northeast corner of Ireland, the second largest island in the British Isles. The capital of the United Kingdom is the city of London, situated near the southeastern tip of England.People often confuse the names for this country, and frequently make mistakes in using them. United Kingdom, UK, and Britain are all proper terms for the entire nation.The United Kingdom is a small nation in physical size. At 244,110 sq km (94,251 sq mi), the United Kingdom is roughly the size of Oregon or Colorado, or twice the size of New York State.Despite its relatively small size, Britain is highly populated, with an estimated population density of 251 persons per sq km (650 per sq mi) in 2006. It is highly developed economically, preeminent in the arts and sciences, sophisticated in technology, and highly prosperous and peaceful. In general, British subjects belong to one of the more affluent states of Europe and enjoy a high standard of living compared to the rest of the world.

College Improvement Program at Foreman Christian College

This program is assisting FCC in the development of a four-year bachelor's degree program and strengthening of programs in basic science and information technology. One thousand merit and need-based scholarships are provided for Bachelors of Arts and Science degrees. A four-year Bachelor of Science degree program meeting U.S. accreditation standards has been initiated. American faculty visits FCC to design curriculum for 18 disciplines including the four-year Bachelors degree programs
Implementing Partner: Forman Christian College, Lahore
GOP Partner: Government of Punjab Education Department
Period: September 2004 - September 2009
Funding: $5,000,000

Task Force on Improvement of Higher Education in Pakistan

Acknowledging individually all of the many contributors to the discussions of the Task Force is a difficult undertaking, as there is the danger of unwitting oversight. With that caveat, acknowledgements are first and foremost due to all members of the Task Force for the time and effort that they devoted to the task at hand. Everyone actively contributed to the deliberations and enriched the final output.
We thank the seminar participants from across the country who provided valuable insights, and their inputs worked as a guide to the Task Force in remaining focused on the issues of concern and keeping the ground realities in mind.
We are very grateful to the Federal Minister for Education, Ms. Zobaida Jalal, whose initiative resulted in the formation of the Task Force. The Minister participated in several meetings and provided support and valuable guidance throughout. We also acknowledge the participation, encouragement and advice provided by the Governors of Sindh and Balochistan, the Federal Minister for Science and Technology, the Governor, State Bank of Pakistan, the Sindh Minister for Finance, Planning, and Development, the Punjab Minister for Education, and numerous other officials.
The convenors and members of the Task Force Committees (Appendix 4) put in many additional hours deliberating on issues of central importance, especially those deliberating on governance and management of higher education. Their outputs served as working documents that provided grist for the Task Force deliberations. Captain U.A. G. Isani and Dr. Latif Virk provided useful information and analysis on higher education in Pakistan. The latter also carefully recorded the proceedings of the meetings. Dr. A.Q. Mughal and his colleagues at the University Grants Commission were generous in providing institutional support.
The Task Force appreciates the contributions and the extensive work done by The Boston Group(1) and presented in its report "Higher Education in Pakistan: Towards a Reform Agenda". This was an important input, and we expect this to be a precursor of future collaborations between expatriate Pakistanis and local efforts.
The Task Force secretariats at the Aga Khan University and the Lahore University of Management Sciences facilitated the work of the Task Force. Thanks are especially due to Dr. Arif Ali Zaidi who co-ordinated the functions of the Task Force and Dr. Robert Maudsley, Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences at the Aga Khan University for supporting the Secretariat.
The World Bank provided funds for the work of the Task Force. Its report (co-sponsored with UNESCO) on 'Higher Education in Developing Countries: Peril and Promise' triggered the process that lead to the establishment of this Task Force, and often served as a guide to its deliberations. The encouragement and inputs of Drs. Henry Rosovsky and David Bloom, who participated in the initial deliberations on higher education in developing countries at Lahore and Karachi in February 2001, are deeply appreciated.
The Task Force acknowledges the many others who have played a critical supportive role in facilitating its work.
Mr. Adil Ahmad's contributions for putting together the ingredients of this report need special mention. And finally, Drs. Camer Vellani, Tariq Banuri, S. Zulfiqar Gilani and Khalid Hamid Sheikh gave words to the rich and complex output of the Task Force and attempted to encapsulate all of that into the coherent whole that is before you.

PROBLEMS AND PROSPECTS OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN PAKISTAN

The purpose of the study was to investigate the problems and prospects of higher education in Pakistan. Higher education plays the role of leadership in the society. The functions of the university are to develop the people physically, mentally and spiritually. It improves and promotes the economic, social, political and cultural life of the nation. All over the world universities are guiding and co-operating with the industrial and agricultural development organizations and they are developing their economics rapidly and meaningfully. In Pakistan, after more than five decades, the developmental indicators are not showing positive results. The participation rate at higher education is about three percent of age group (17-23) and this is 16.2 percent as world average of this age group. The advanced countries are achieving more than 40 percent participation rate in higher education. There are problems of quality of staff, students, library and laboratory. Relevance with society needs, research facilities, financial crisis, arts students more than science students, weaknesses of examination, ineffective governance and academic results are not at par with international standards. Considering the gigantic problems of higher education in Pakistan, the researcher selected this topic for research. The main objectives of the study were: (1) determining the present profile of higher education in Pakistan; (2) examining the past efforts done for the improvement of higher education; (4) highlighting the budget provisions for higher education; and (5) exploring problems of higher education in Pakistan. Experts dealing with education in the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Science and Technology, Higher Education Commission, Provincial Departments of Education, university teachers, university administrators, planners, examination experts, university students and community leaders constituted the population of the study. Eight universities were selected randomly for the sample. Twenty university teachers and forty students from each university were included in the sample. Thirty community leaders and fifty experts were also included in the sample. Four questionnaires were developed after pilot testing for the collection of data. The data were collected by the researcher personally. He made many efforts for collection of data from the experts, leaders, teachers and students. Data were tabulated and analyzed using the Likert's five-point scale and chi-square. After drawing the conclusions, some workable recommendations were made for the improvement of relevance, quality, finances, effectiveness and access of higher education in Pakistan. Following conclusions were drawn from responses. (i) access was very limited in universities. (ii) quality was very low in the fields of academic, administration, research and equipment. (iii) faculty and staff need development in knowledge and skills. (iv) funds were provided inadequate and misappropriation was common. (v) character building of the students was ignored. (vi) there was no linkage between university and industry. (vii) examination system was faulty. (viii) good governance was non-existent. (ix) private sector was expanding without merit. Following recommendations were made on the basis of conclusions: (i) Enrolment in universities should be increased by providing adequate all types of educational facilities. (ii) Quality of faculty, staff, students, library, laboratory, research and equipment should be enhanced. (iii) Development of faculty and staff should be ensured through meaningful continuous in-service training. (iv) Funds for higher education should be increased reasonably. (v) Character building of students should be focused. (vi) Linkage between university and industry should be established. (vii) Good governance should be ensured. (ix) More open universities should be established. (x) New disciplines should be started to meet the need of the market. (xi) Night classes should be started with transport facilities. (xii) Summer vacations should be banned. (xiii) Political activities should not be allowed. (xiv) Rules and regulations should be enforced forcefully.