ISLAMABAD, April 19: The development budget for higher education will be raised to Rs9.7 billion during fiscal 2004-05 from the current Rs5 billion, says the Higher Education Commission (HEC) chairman, Dr Attaur Rehman.
The Higher Education Commission chairman was speaking at the inaugural ceremony the 16th Cultural Week of International Islamic University (IIU) here on Monday. He observed that in the present biotechnological era, natural resources had lost their importance and knowledge had become the key driver.
Dr Rehman, who is also the minister in charge for science and technology, said Pakistan had now become the first country having three tiers including linkages of universities with fibre, launching digital library where journals would be freely accessible by the students and researchers and communication satellites.
Under the programme of faculty enhancement, he said, the faculty members would be sent abroad for enrolment in PhD programme and the ratio of PhD scholars would be increased by 1,500. The Tenure Track System, he added, the teachers' salaries would be increased on the basis of their performance.
Meanwhile, speaking at the inaugural ceremony of the 16th culture week at the International Islamic University Islamabad (IIUI) he said the worst tragedy for a nation is the migration of its skilled manpower, the Higher Education Commission (HEC) chairman, Dr Attaur Rehman, said on Monday.
The ceremony was attended by a number of scholars from across the world and Islamabad-based ambassadors of a number of countries. Dr Ata said the government was trying its best to create a talent-friendly environment. More than 1,600 Pakistanis from the United States and Europe have applied in the programmes offered by the HEC, he said.
"This is only one dimension of our efforts to provide quality education and conducive environment to make our talent work for Pakistan," he said. Complaining about the educational and research situation in the Muslim world, Dr Ata said Muslims had a glorious culture of knowledge and research but presently were passing through a dark age.
Only two universities (both from Turkey) are included in the top 500 universities of the world and they too are below the figure of 350 in this rating.