Academics in Pakistan have urged the government to increase spending on the higher education sector to boost socio-economic development. The executive director of the Higher Education Commission, Sohail H. Naqvi, told a seminar on challenges for higher education in Pakistan that the current allocation, representing 0.18 per cent of gross domestic product, was not enough to keep quality on a par with international standards, the Express Tribune reported. The keynote speaker, historian Aslam Syed, called for the creation of an environment that was conducive to research and innovation, and for the building of strong links between institutions. “Without prioritising education, we can’t compete with other educational systems which have been adopted by the developed world and even some developing countries,” he said.
Source: Times Higher Education http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=26&storycode=419709&c=1