english language assessment in pakistan · (universities and colleges) some oldest public funded...
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Pakistan:
A rising education market
Pakistan:
A rising
Education Market
ByDr. Osamah Qureshi
Hareem Arif Student Counseling Services,
Pakistan
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Area of 796,095 km2 (307,374 sq mi)(≈combined land areas of France and the United Kingdom)
36th largest nation by total area
45th largest in terms of nominal GDP
6th most populous country – (Population exceeding 180 million)
Geogra
phic
al Im
port
ance
Located at crossroads of strategically important regions of:South Asia,Central Asia andWestern Asia
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54 percent of the UK’s (non-EU)
international students are from Pakistan
USA - Largest number of Fulbright
Scholarship Program (over 200 scholarships offered to Pakistani students)
Official Language: Urdu + English
2 knowledge park projects in line(Punjab + KPK)
Major Cities
In terms of literacy rate and
educational development
Islamabad Peshawar Quetta
Education System
in Pakistan
Educational Institutions
• 136 Universities• 72 Public
• 62 Private
• 3193 technical and Vocational Institutions
• Free schools for religious teachings (Madrassas)
Levels of Education
• Pre-primary
• Primary
• Middle
• Matriculation (leading to the Secondary School Certificate)
• Intermediate (leading to a Higher Secondary (School)
Certificate)
• University programmes (leading to graduation)
• Postgraduate degrees.
Literacy Rate
• For 10 years + of age ≈ 58.5%.
• Male literacy ≈ 70.2%
• Female literacy rate ≈ 46.3%.
• Literacy rates vary by region and particularly by sex; for instance,
female literacy in tribal areas is 3%.
• Educational reforms aim to attain
100% enrolment levels in primary school age and
a literacy rate of 86% among people aged over 10.
Watch body for higher education
institutions
Attestation of higher educational documents / Verifications
Scholarships to study abroad
Grants to researchers and students
Accreditation and Rankings of Pakistani Universities
Recognizing Foreign Degree programs offered in Pakistan
Higher Education Commission
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HEC accredited 203 degree awarding institutions
(Universities and Colleges)
Some oldest public funded institutions are University of Punjab,
University of Karachi, and Edwards College Peshawar etc.
All Universities must be accredited by HEC and
list and rankings are at hec.gov.pk
Some most famous and prestigious
Universities in terms of rankings & quality of
education they offer are
Universities and Colleges
University of
Karachi
Agha Khan
University
SZABIST
University of the
Punjab
Quad e Azam
University
NUST
LUMS
UET
New 4 year BA Honour degree in Pakistan
New 4 years BA/BSc. Honours degree in par with the international standards
Old 2 years BA degree system also running in parallel at most public colleges
To clarify the situation HEC issued press statement some time back
New 4 year BA Honour degree in Pakistan
Press Release - 2010
4-year Bachelor Degree Equivalent to Old Master Degree in Respective Discipline:
The Higher Education Commission (HEC) clarifies that the 4-year Bachelor degree is
equivalent to old Master degree in their respective disciplines, and all such Bachelor
degree holders are eligible to compete and apply for employment or higher
studies wherever the requirement is that of old Master degree. It may be added here that
the 4-year / 8-semester Bachelor programme introduced in 2003 with entry level of 12
years of schooling is equated with 16 years of education. Examples of such degrees are
BBA (Hons), BS (CS), BS(IT), BCS (Hons), BCom (Hons) etc.
It may be further clarified
here that the old system, still being practiced in the university affiliated colleges,
provides for 2-year Bachelor followed by 2-year Master degree
(two-year BA / BSc + two-year MA/MSc) making it a total of 16 years of education.
How to link up with a Pakistani University /
Institution?
Nearly all good Universities are having now Career Counsellor who is responsible for student’s
guidance for study abroad. Contact them
Some Universities have In house Educational Agencies for student recruitment. If that’s the case
one can sign agency agreement with them
All Universities now host career fairs for their graduates. Attend them if possible/ ask your agent to
represent you. Most have free stalls or at very nominal cost like PKR 10,000 ( USD100 ! )
Many Institutions have their magazines/ web sites. Advertise there.
If possible make a loose nonbinding MoU / agreement. This will provide base to start recruitment
activities at campus
Send them posters / notices to be pasted at campus notice boards.
Some Universities are happy to offer office space for career counselling activities.
Scholarships, Discounts, Flexible entry criteria, Credit Transfer facilities, Funding for University
staff visit to overseas – all these are quite attractive to Pakistani Universities administration.
Recruitment of quality students from Pakistan
Engaging Quality agents
Use a small number of proficient agents instead of a large number of incompetent ones
Quality agents can be engaged by seeking credible references
Agents working for the last 5 years or more are likely to be active as they have survived the
slow business in the last few years
Agents working with education markets of Australia Canada USA are more diversified as
compare to agents working only with UK
Please seek Press Ad record of agents as they should not be misleading
Agents running English Language training classes are more likely to recruit quality students
Agents based in metropolitan cities Lahore, Karachi and Islamabad are comparatively well
versed in student recruitment and visas as compare to small city agents
Seek Education Agent qualification copy as many working agents don’t even have basic
qualification degree.
Visit the agent web site, see their travel record, ask for local reference from Pakistan based
offices of British Council, AUSTRADE, USEFP etc. Check if they have attended Education
Fairs, do they have videos of marketing activities, do they have active Facebook page
Agents dealing ONLY in student counseling are more focused than agents dealing in visit,
Immigration and employment based recruitment visas
Visit the Education UK Trained Agents listings.
Attracting quality students
• Discounts are common but anything reducing the fee is attractive
• Scholarships linked with good GPA and IELTS is a good act to recruit quality students
• Special package to a particular institution is also a good idea – You can work with some
top institutions if such a package can be offered. Many Universities are linked up with
Pakistani Universities offering them special scholarship / discounted fee
• Scholarships on extracurricular activities also attract active students
• Advertisements on good Universities web sites, magazines and Facebook always generate
enquiries of good quality
• Linking up with good Universities also allow flow of quality applications
Screening students in terms of paper work;
Verifications
• Always ask for full application with references, statement of purpose and CV
• Student must complete application forms himself/herself
• Ask for experience letters for any gaps in education history
• Always ask for student contact details Email /Mobile
• Before issuing final offer letter its good if you can talk with student over phone/ SKYPE
assessing his/her suitability, financial affordability and ensuring that he/ she knows terms
and conditions
• If possible ask for Bank statements / Financial documents from students
• Do not accept blurred and no readable documents
• Its good if you can verify some of the documents online
Screening students in terms of paper work;
Verifications
• IELTS / TOEFL/ Cambridge English/ PTE results
• Student Experience letters/ Business letters by searching them on Google
• Some financial docs. Like National Tax Number NTN is verifiable at Pakistan FBR –
Federal Board of Revenue web site www.fbr.gov.pk
• Many Universities offer results as late as 5 or more years verifiable online. Visit University
web site
• Some good agents add “Agent Verification Sheet” in applications / Visa applications.
In this they do online/ telephonic verifications. They usually verify most crucial docs.
Like academics, bank statements & student experience letter if any. Ask your agent
to do that for all / some applications. Provide them a sample
• Some highest ranking Universities and visa offices use third party verification
agencies. One example is Risk Discovered riskdiscovered.com which is used by
British High Commission as well.
Medium of Instruction
• The Ministry of Education is extending “English Medium Education” for all schools across
Pak.
• Medium of Instruction in Higher Education is already in English
• English established as official language along with Urdu
• Level of English in Urban areas better than Rural
Language Assessment Criterion
• Skype Interviews
• Language Assessment Exams
IELTS (Through British Council + AEO)
TOEFL (Through ETS)
Cambridge English Language Assessment (Through ICD)
MELAB (Through ICD)
Occupational English Test (Through ICD)
• English Proficiency Certificate (issued by the candidates’ educational institute)
Practical ProblemsIn Language Assessments
1. Financial Burden
Exam Registration Fee (PKR) Registration Fee (USD)
BEC 16,000 152
TOEFL 17,000 160
IELTS 19,000 180
MELAB 21,000 200
OET 60,000 580
These fees are usually a considered as a financial strain on studentsThis makes students reluctant to try …
Preparation and Time Constraints
• Cost of preparation adds to the already present financial Burden
• Students with a lower level of English (especially from rural/less developed areas) require a lot of time to improve and prepare for the exams
• With the deadlines fast approaching after the end of the candidate’s last degree completion, the preparation time is not sufficient enough
Lack of Good Language
Teachers and Institutions
• ~ 95% of teachers in schools only have a
basic knowledge of English Language*
• Trend of ELT degrees has just started
• Teacher Trainings in the process of
serious implementation (only in more
developed urban areas)
• Commercialized Institutes do not focus on
quality
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Solutions• Assessing only the degree required modules
• Designing your own assessment exams
which would be financially more feasible
• Taking Skype interviews
• Admitting students in Foundation Courses
• Setting up Support offices in Pakistan
• Practical Examples include:– NAVITAS
– Study Group
– Cambridge Education
– INTO
Finances of students, Fee matters and Deposits
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Always ask students/ agents to make all drafts /
transfers payable to your institution
Its preferred that not to allow agent to hold bank drafts/ deposits
If for some reason you are allowing agent to
hold draft payment, ask them to send you draft
colour scanned copy. Beware of changes on
draft / use of Corel Draw etc. to change
contents
Swift transfers are most quick route for fee
transfers. Beside them Wall Street, Credit Card
payments are also useful
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Some payment gateways are now allowing students to pay
through them. Examples are Pay To Study which is widely used
for Irish Universities. If you are partnered with such a service ask
students/ agents to pay through these services
Its now generally marketable that fee of up to USD5000 can be
asked in full in advance. Students are paying full 1 year fee in
case of Ireland, New Zealand in tune of USD 5000-10,000
depending on the course.
If allowing the student to pay a deposit, please
ask them full balance on arrival.
Application Fee are not marketable as most
Pakistani students are not paying to apply
only. Although you can allow your agent to
charge a small fee to service only serious
students.
New initiatives by Govt. of Pakistan for
students and youths
The new Govt. has announced various schemes for young Pakistani graduates and students.
Some of them are listed below:
• Prime Minister Youth Loan Program
• Prime Minister Laptop Scheme 2013
• Prime Minister Student Internship program- www.nip.gov.pk
• Knowledge City – Lahore and Peshawar
• Teacher Training Programs
• Devolution of power and funds to provinces for education promotion
Knowledge City-Lahore & Peshawar
To Create Synergy between Academia / R&D & Industry/Business, by: Inviting
Universities &
• Institutes of High Repute in Varied Disciplines / Fields that feed into the Local & Global
Economy
• Inviting Technology Related Educational Institutions
• Inviting ICT Educational Institutions
• Providing Optimal Regulatory Environment to Industry/Business Companies for Operations
• Providing Optimal Regulatory Environment for ICT Companies for Operations
• Providing Optimal Facilities for R&D Activity
• Providing Facilities to Companies of all Sizes (Including Start-up Entrepreneurs)
TOTAL AREA = 852 ACRES
DISTANCE FROM LAHORE INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT = 11 Km
DISTANCE FROM NEAREST RING ROAD INTERCHANGE = 4.5Km
DISTANCE FROM NEAREST MAINROAD (7TH AVENUE ) = 200 m
Proposed Layout Option 2
Facilities
• Land for Educational Complexes on In-
expensive and Easy Terms
• Sports Stadiums
• Recreational Area
• Club House
• 5-Star Hotel
• Commercial Area for Restaurants & Cafes etc
• Auditorium
• Central Library
• Joint Facilities Area
• Research & Resource Development Centre
• Gymnasiums
• Business Park
• ICT Park
• Hospital & Allied Health Facilities
• Parks & Play Fields
• Gated Residential Area
• Lake
• Others
Dr Osamah Qureshi
DirectorStudent Counseling Services
Institute of Career Development
Offices in 6 cities in
PAKISTAN
www.myscs.org
Student recruitment, English Language Training
and Testing
www.icd.org.pk
Authorized Test Center for Cambridge English
See you at next ICEF!