In most South Asian countries, including Pakistan, brain drain is a major issue. Each year many educated professionals emigrate from the country and settle in different parts of the world in search of better employment opportunities and to improve mobility. One of the reasons for this is that Pakistan is lagging in almost all sectors i.e. education, economy and health.
The recruitment system of public organisations has prevented different sectors from advancing and creating new opportunities. For example, the higher education or university recruitment system in Pakistan is still outdated because no Pakistani universities have managed to feature in the QS rankings of top 200 universities globally. Universities gain global recognition for their academic research and scholarship because of which they prioritise hiring academics with greater expertise in scholarly work. However, in Pakistan, universities have set different standards for recruitment. The process involves giving weightage to the SSC (Matric), HSSC (FSC/FA), bachelor and master’s degree marks while considering 5 marks for publication only and giving equal weightage to local Higher Education Commission (HEC) recognised journals and international peer-reviewed journals. In addition, all public sector universities charge an application fee that ranges from Rs3,000 to Rs10,000. Globally, no universities charge any fee from candidates for recruitment.
Consequently, the use of such policies by Pakistani universities has discouraged people and compelled them to seek employment out of the country. I request the concerned authorities to consider this matter in earnest and adopt recruitment policies that are favourable for the faculty. By retaining local academics, we will be able to improve higher education standards and rise in global rankings.
Dr Raheel Yasin
Malaysia
