As one of the largest Muslim country, populated by nearly 200 million people and with many top universities located there, the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is able to become our major partner of higher education.

The world remembers Pakistan through Mohammad Abdus Salam (1926-1996), a renowned theoretical physicist and a Nobel Prize recipient in 1979 who served as a Scientific Advisor to the Government of Pakistan (1960-1974) in the development of science and technology infrastructure of the country.

Considering this potential, Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) Vice-Chancellor Professor Dato’ Dr. Omar Osman initiated a visit to Lahore, Islamabad and Peshawar Pakistan recently to see the progress up close and to strengthen the relationship with universities there.

 

Also present on the official visit were the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic and International Affairs) USM Professor Dato’ Dr. Ahmad Shukri Mustapa Kamal and the Honorary Consul General of Pakistan in Penang, Dato’ Abdul Rafique Karim.

According to Abdul Rafique, Pakistan provided the opportunity and untapped market for Malaysia, especially in higher education.

“At the moment there are about 3,000 students from Pakistan who are interested to study in Malaysia and the number is increasing because of its huge population, and those who can afford also increased,” he said.

In Lahore, the Vice-Chancellor visited the University of Lahore, a private university established through a trust fund, and receives recognition from the education authorities of Pakistan and also some of the world ratings.

The university, established in 1999 through IBADAT Education Trust, has nearly 14,000 students and it offers studies in Engineering, Pharmaceutical Sciences, Medical Sciences, Dental Sciences, Molecular Sciences, Biology and Biotechnology as well as several other courses on its three campuses in Pakistan besides having its own television production.

At this juncture, UoL has a close relationship with many leading universities such as Cambridge University, UK; Imperial College London; Western Michigan University USA; Yeditep University of Istanbul; and several universities in Iran, Turkey and Africa.

“We want to make sure UoL always enjoy a close relationship with various institutions of higher education not only in Pakistan and the West but also in other Muslim countries including Malaysia,” said UoL IBADAT Education Trust Patron, M.A. Raoof.

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed for both parties to cooperate in the exchange of expertise of staff and students, offering long-term study programmes, research and community engagement.

Present at the ceremony were UoL Chairman, Awais Raoof; UoL Vice-Chancellor, Professor Dr M.H. Qazi; UoL Rector Professor Dr M. Saleem Shuja.

USM also renewed cooperation agreement with the University of the Punjab, one of the leading institutions of higher learning in Pakistan. USM has signed a MoU with the university a few years ago, particularly in the areas of cooperation related to the study of Pharmaceutical Sciences.

In the discussions held with the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Dr Mujahid Kamran, the two parties agreed to strengthen ties in matters relating to the sharing of expertise, particularly in the field of Pharmaceutical Sciences, research and student exchange.

“With a number of USM alumni serving as lecturers here, efforts to strengthen cooperation will be more easily implemented,” said Omar.

He added that through this visit, relations between the two institutions can establish a common ground, allowing the MoU signed to materialise.

Professor Dr Mujahid agreed to an official visit to USM at a time to be determined later.

Meanwhile, in a visit to the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) which was established in 1984, the Vice-Chancellor also visited Suleiman Dawood School of Business and met its Dean, Professor Dr Arif Nazir Butt, to look at its teaching and learning models.

Suleiman Dawood School of Business had previously sent students to hold programmes in the university and hopes that USM would also send its students there in the near future.

“We will soon be working on this and at the same time hoping that academic staff of both universities are able to share their expertise, especially when you see how they operate to provide a variety of executive courses almost every week for the benefit of society,” said the Vice-Chancellor.

LUMS is also a university that was developed from public funds, offering education in the field of Humanities, Social Sciences, Science, and Engineering.

Meanwhile, in a visit to the University of Peshawar (UoP), the Vice-Chancellor has established cooperation in the field of archeological research which previously had an agreement signed with USM in April 2013.

In the discussions held with UoP Vice-Chancellor, both parties agreed to strengthen cooperation to ensure that there are ongoing efforts to exchange expertise of academic staff and students on a more regular basis.

UoP offers a range of 45 disciplines which included Social Sciences, Science, Applied Science and many more.

“At the moment there is a doctoral student in archeology from USM who is here and USM hopes to increase this number in the future, especially in the field of Archaeology considering the fact that the Global Archaeological Research Centre has been exploring with a view to explore the potentials in the future,” said Omar.

The USM delegation also visited the Faculty of Physics and the UoL Department of Environmental Science, College of Home Economics and the Archaeological Museum in UoL, as well as the Peshawar Museum which housed a collection of diverse religious heritage of the world, especially through the Ghandara civilization.

The UoP College of Home Economics was successful in merging science and the preservation of its diverse cultural heritage for posterity.

“This was a very successful working visit,” said the Vice-Chancellor at the end of his visit to Pakistan.

According to Omar, USM is not only able to strengthen existing relationships but find the strengths in the various universities visited.

Besides visiting the University of Lahore, Lahore University of Management Sciences, University of the Punjab and University of Peshawar, USM delegation also visited the International Islamic University in Islamabad and the National College of Arts Lahore, and met the delegations from the University of Sargodha and the Sarghoda Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Pakistan.

“Follow-up will soon be made to ensure that all efforts will be implemented mainly on matters related to academic sharing of expertise and the exchange of students,” said Omar.

Recommendations were also made for an exchange of lecturers and students in the field of art and culture for the Pakistan Cultural Festival in Penang, particularly next year when USM hosts the event to enable local communities here to understand the Pakistani culture and art treasures better as well as to hold a similar event in Pakistan by bringing art and cultural treasures of Malaysia there.

“The visit was very successful because it allows us to better understand the issues and problems in Malaysia to strengthen cooperation with Pakistan, especially in areas of education and culture,” said Pakistan’s Honorary Consul in Penang, Dato’ Abdul Rafique Karim.

He added that the proposals will be made ​​to the Pakistani embassy in Malaysia and the Malaysian government to strengthen existing ties and cooperation to make education more meaningful to both countries.

Abdul Rafique also suggested that universities in Malaysia should establish close cooperation with the universities in Pakistan, especially those recognised by the Malaysian Government and various leading world academic bodies and build better interaction with them despite having no formal agreement on education between the two governments at this juncture.

“We are trying to establish a more formal cooperation in the future even more so in the context of intra-Muslim countries,” he added.

TEXT & PHOTO: Mohammad Abdullah/TRANSLATION: Yong Check Yoon