KARACHI: UK plans to attract more Pakistani students
By Our Staff Reporter
KARACHI, May 23: Under the British Prime Minister, Tony Blair's, initiative for international education, the UK expects to receive 10-12 thousand students from Pakistan for higher education in 2010.
At a launching ceremony of the Prime Minister's Initiative (PMI-Phase 2) for international education, the Director, British Council Karachi, Marcus Gilbert, said on Tuesday that the new five-year strategy presented by the British PM on April 18 in London would help internationalise the UK’s education.
Surely, Britain’s universities would be readied to welcome more overseas students in the coming years, he added, and hoped that the number of Pakistani students in the UK would also increase in a considerable number.
He said that 6,500 students went to the UK for higher education in 2005, and the figure would successively go beyond 10-12 thousand in the next five years.
He noted that Pakistani students were full of talent and competent, and their access to the UK institutions would help increase linkages between educational institutions in the UK and Pakistan.
About the PMI, he said that it would build on the success of the first PMI to secure the UK's position as a leader in international education and sustain the managed growth of the UK’s international education delivered both in the UK and overseas.
Mr Gilbert quoted Mr Blair from one of his recent speeches on education initiatives as saying: “I am passionate about raising standards in education in our country, but that means that we must be willing to learn from the best in the world. It means sharing experience and knowledge and being open to innovation and creativity from whatever direction it comes."
The director said that the prime minister was very much clear that it was not just about getting students to choose universities and colleges, but it was about building sustainable partnerships between the UK’s universities and colleges and those of other countries.
Speaking on the occasion, Ron Rimmer, Deputy Head of Mission, British Deputy High Commissioner Karachi, said that the second PMI aimed at doing more than just recruiting more students from across the world.
In addition to ensuring quality of the students' experiences, it is also aimed at building strategic partnerships and alliances and developing marketing and communication strategies to position the UK as a leader in international education.
He said that the UK’s universities would be encouraged to go into partnership with leading Pakistani universities to develop joint degrees, research and other relevant affairs.
To date, five UK universities have opened regional offices in Pakistan and the chairman of Pakistan's Higher Education Commission has announced an increase in funding for setting up more substantial links with the UK’s universities, he added.
He informed the audience, comprising educational consultants, that British visa sections in Karachi and Islamabad were fully committed to providing high quality, and fair and speedy service for genuine students going to good education institutions.
He said that about 7,000 student visas were issued to Pakistanis in 2005 while 1,860 visas were issued in the first three months of 2006. He said that if the trend continued, there was likelihood of an increase of about seven per cent in the numbers issued last year.
Other who spoke at the launching ceremony included George Paterson, head of Glasgow City Mission to Pakistan, Sharma Procter of the University of Glasgow, and Rubeena Hoodbhoy, Chairperson of Pakistan National Education Consultants Association.
A couple of consultants said that since Canada, Australia and the US were the choices of students for education abroad, the UK should also consider measures to attract overseas students.
They suggested that the UK should also arrange for more scholarships for international students in addition to quality education and due visa facilitations for applicants.
