May 17, 2007	Thursday	Rabi-us-Sani 29, 1428

RAWALPINDI, May 16: A new engineering university has been proposed to be set up to help bridge the gap between the existing set up and internationally-accredited universities.

Sweden, France, Germany, Austria and the Netherlands have expressed their keen interest to become partners of the ‘University of Engineering, Science and Technology Pakistan (UESTP)’, to be located in Karachi. The University of Technology, Troyes (UTT), France, has agreed to become its collaborative partner.

The new university, to be set up by the Higher Education Commission, would be set up at a total cost of Rs487 million, says a working paper prepared by HEC.

The possible site of the university would be of 137 acres of partially developed land with some infrastructure of Pakistan Marine Academy, already available in Karachi. It will also have a hostel for 250 students.

The UESTP would essentially be an extended campus of the partner’s university based in Pakistan with French support for the first 10 years. Its methodology and standards will be established and maintained by the partner university, and its manpower output will be available to and acceptable by the collaborating country and to foreign companies operating in Pakistan.

Today, engineering universities in the country are facing more challenges than ever before.

Unfortunately, because of weak bonds between industry and universities in Pakistan, lack of financial resources and of trained manpower and many other factors, engineering universities in Pakistan are unable to meet these challenges. They are still far behind the international accredited standards of teaching, curriculum and laboratory facilities, which determine the overall quality of institutions. Even when the graduates of these universities are employed by industry, the feedback between the university and industry has remained static and inadequate, the working paper says.