LAHORE: A mere four Pakistani universities were present in the list of the Times Higher Education World University Rankings this year.
Last year, there were seven Pakistani universities in the list.
It is pertinent to mention that only Quaid-i-Azam University (QAU) is among the top 500 universities. The shift into the 401-500 cohort for QAU is an improvement from its position in the 601-800 band in last year’s rankings.
Other Pakistani universities in the top 1,000 include COMSATS Institute of Information Technology, the National University of Sciences and Technology in the 601-800 band, and the University of Agriculture, Faisalabad in the 801+ group.
In this year’s rankings, Pakistan fell far behind its neighbours; 60 institutions from China, 30 from India and 11 from Iran were on the list.
Times Higher Education Global Rankings Editorial Director Phil Baty said the lack of Pakistani institutions in the rankings is “disappointing”. He attributed the low representation of local universities to a “lack of funding”.
He expressed hope that the increased funding by China would “enable Pakistan to improve its performance on the table in future years.”
