Pak, Saudi unis agree teacher, student exchanges

* Saudis interested in medical education, delegation to visit Pakistan
* No opening of Pakistani university sub-campuses in Saudi Arabia

By Waqar Gillani

LAHORE Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have agreed to start student and teacher exchange programmes, University of Engineering and Technology (UET) Vice Chancellor Lt Gen (r) Muhammad Akram Khan told Daily Times on Friday.

Mr Khan recently headed a delegation of 17 vice chancellors of Pakistani universities to Saudi Arabia on behalf of the Higher Education Commission (HEC) and its chairman Dr Attaur Rehman.

In Saudi Arabia, the group looked at the possibility of enrolling Saudi students to Pakistani universities and the opening of sub-campuses in the kingdom. The Saudi government arranged the visit in collaboration with the HEC.

Mr Khan said the Saudi authorities had proposed sending a team of experts to Pakistan to meet with the HEC. “They have also agreed to sponsor Pakistani students in their universities. There was a consensus on exchange of faculty for long durations, especially in the vacations,” he said.

He said the Saudi authorities had reservations about law and order at schools in Pakistan, facilities and bureaucratic hurdles in the admissions processes. “However, we assured them full protocol, security and facilities,” he said.

Mr Khan said the delegation had not received a favourable response on sub campuses. “Setting up campuses will cost billions of rupees if there are to be of a similar standard to Saudi universities.”

He said higher education in Saudi Arabia was free and students were paid stipends of 1,000 Saudi Riyal per month. He said the Saudi authorities were not convinced that Pakistani universities could set up quality campuses abroad and compete with those standards.

He said there were no agreements signed with Saudi universities. “Every university can do this at an individual level,” he said.

Mr Khan said the delegation had 10 official meetings with the Saudi authorities and various universities and discussed all issues openly and in detail. He said the vice chancellors of medical universities had held an exclusive meeting with the Saudis authorities.

Asked if the UET had any plans to develop links with Saudi universities, Mr Khan said the research institute at King Faisal University in Dammam was excellent. “We may plan research collaborations with that institute, along with faculty exchanges through the HEC.”

Mr Khan said the delegation was given a warm welcome. The Saudis were mostly interested in getting more seats in medical and engineering universities in Pakistan. He said the main purpose of the visit was to explain the facilities available in Pakistani universities to Saudi universities and invite them to send their students to Pakistan for further education. “And we very much succeeded in achieving this goal,” he said.

The delegation included Dr Habibullah Jamal (UET, Taxila), Imtiaz Gillani (UET, Peshawar), Dr Muhammad Aslam (Pakistan Institute of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Islamabad), Prof Dr Malik Hussain Mubashar (University of Health Sciences), Dr Jan Muhammad Memon (Liaqat University of Medical Health Sciences, Jamshoro), Prof Syed Iqbal Shah (Agriculture University, NWFP), Dr Bashir Sheikh (Agriculture University, Tandojam, Sindh), Dr Ghulam Chaudhry (Bahauddin Zikrya University, Multan), Dr Abdur Malik (Bhatai University, Khairpur), Dr Manzoor Khan (AJK University, Muzaffarabad), Dr Muneer Akhtar (Islamia University, Bahawalpur), Dr Muhammad Chaudhry (Balochistan University of Information Technology and Management Sciences), Dr Syed Altaf Hussain (Allama Iqbal Open University, Islamabad), Dr Mazharul Haq (University of Sindh, Jamshoro) and Dr Bushra Mateen (Lahore College for Women University).

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