Opinion

Pakistan Beats BRICs in Percentage of Highly Cited Research Papers
By Riaz Haq
CA

Pakistan has emerged as the country with the highest percentage of Highly Cited Papers compared with the BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China) in the last 10 years, according to Thomson Reuters. Pakistan has done so despite the fact that its "R&D environment faced substantial economic challenges".

In a report titled " Pakistan: Another BRIC in the Wall ", author LulianHerciu says that Pakistan’s scientific productivity has quadrupled, from approximately 2,000 articles per year in 2006 to more than 9,000 articles in 2015. During this time, the number of Highly Cited Papers featuring Pakistan-based authors increased tenfold, from 9 articles in 2006 to 98 in 2015.

The author asserts that his report provides comparisons between Pakistan and BRIC nations taking a look at productivity and leveraging contextual indicators. His analysis points to the fact that Pakistan can be benchmarked with emerging and dynamic countries such as those in the BRIC group (Brazil, Russia, India and China).
The Thomson Reuters report has found that in 2012, "Pakistan's normalized Citation Impact was higher than that of all of the BRIC nations".

CERN Membership
In 2014, Pakistan became the first Asian country and the third in the world after Turkey and Serbia to be honored with CERN's associate membership. The status of an associate member is a step before full membership. As an associate member, Pakistan is entitled to attend open and restricted sessions of the organization.

College and University Enrollment
There are over 3 million students enrolled in grades 13 through 16 in Pakistan's 1,086 degree colleges and 161 universities, according to Pakistan Higher Education Commission report for 2013-14 . The 3 million enrollment is 15% of the 20 million Pakistanis in the eligible age group of 18-24 years. In addition, there are over 255,000 Pakistanis enrolled in vocational training schools, according to Technical Education and Vocational Training Authority ( TEVTA ).
Pakistani universities have been producing over half a million graduates, including over 10,000 IT graduates , every year since 2010, according to HEC data . The number of university graduates in Pakistan increased from 380,773 in 2005-6 to 493,993 in 2008-09. This figure is rising and contributing to Pakistan's growing human capital .
Higher education in Pakistan has come a long way since the country’s independence in 1947 when there was only one university, the University of Punjab. By 1997, the number of universities had risen to 35, of which 3 were federally administered and 22 were under the provincial governments, with a combined enrollment of 71,819 students. A big spending boost by President Pervez Musharraf helped establish 51 new universities and awarding institutions during 2002-2008. This helped triple university enrollment from 135,000 in 2003 to about 400,000 in 2008, according to Dr Ata urRehman who was responsible for expanding higher education during Musharraf years. There were 161 universities with 1.5 million students enrolled in Pakistan as of 2014.

R&D Investment
Rise of research and publications at Pakistani universities began during Musharraf years when the annual budget for higher education increased from only Rs 500 million in 2000 to Rs 28 billion in 2008, to lay the foundations of a strong knowledge economy, according to former education minister Dr Ata urRehman. Student enrollment in universities increased from 270,000 to 900,000 and the number of universities and degree awarding institutions went up from 57 in 2000 to 137 by 2008. Government R&D spending also jumped seven-fold as percentage of GDP from 0.1% in 1999 to 0.7% in 2007. It has since declined as percentage of GDP.

Summary

Pakistani scientists and researchers are continuing to produce highly cited research in spite of serious economic and security challenges. Enrollment in higher education is rising and giving a boost to academic research. With better policy focus and more investment in higher education, Pakistan can make an even greater impact with its young demographics.