Published annually since 2009, the Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) University Rankings, Asia highlights the top universities in Asia each year. The criteria developed in consultation with regional experts and stakeholders, is designed to reflect key priorities for universities in Asia.
In their latest rankings 2016, Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) has been declared Pakistan’s top university with National University of Science and Technology (NUST) falling just behind. LUMS overall score was 45.6 from a scale of 100 while NUST fell 0.2 points behind as they managed to obtain 45.4 points.
The list contained 350 best universities in Asia with National University of Singapore (NUS) ranked top with 100 points. Unfortunately, none of the Pakistani university broke into the top 100 list as LUMS managed to secure 111th position overall out of 350 while NUST was ranked 112th.
Other prominent Pakistani universities breaking in the list were Quaid-e-Azam University and Pakistan Institute of Engineering and Applied Sciences (PIEAS). Both these universities managed to score 37.8 points and were ranked 149th in the overall ranking. As far as Pakistan ranking is concerned, they are ranked No. 3.
Plenty of work needs to be done to break into the list of top 100 let alone securing a place in top 10. Previously, Pakistan’s higher education system as one of the worst in the world according to QS Rankings which is a clear indication that a lot is required for the betterment of education in the country.
Nine indicators were used to compile the QS University Rankings and they are as follow:
- Academic reputation (30%)
- Employer reputation (20%)
- Faculty/student ratio (15%)
- Citations per paper (10%) and papers per faculty (10%)
- Staff with a PhD (5%)
- Proportion of International faculty (2.5%)
- Proportion of International students (2.5%)
- Proportion of inbound exchange students (2.5%)
- Proportion of outbound exchange students (2.5%)
It is pertinent to mention here that as many as 9 Indian universities managed to break in the list of top 100 which signals that the education system in the neighboring country is apparently quite good. It can be hoped that Pakistan can improve their education system so that they could give some competition to other countries in the world.
