Research-oriented education could help develop the knowledge economy.

Byline: Khalil Ahmed

It would not be wrong at all to proclaim that Pakistan is far behind in terms of research produced by the institutions of higher education. The culture of research has not fully blossomed for multifarious reasons. The researchers need to come forward and talk about their successes and failures while conducting research and guide the budding researchers to learn from their experiences. Unfortunately being dogmatic is considered to be the best option, which ultimately leads to alienation and the researchers end up doing the work and keeping it to themselves instead of guiding others to follow their footsteps.

The outcome of research in Pakistan belies the claims made by the successive governments over the period of decades. Nothing concrete has come up to lead Pakistan to the path of being one of the leading countries in Asia for research culture.

Lack of third party supervision coupled with a dearth of quality academic professionals is the reality which must be focused. Unfortunately, there is not much in our higher education institutions for enhancing our aspiring researchers and also to augment students' understanding of research and dissertation writing. A lack of critical thinking aggravates the situation further.

Successive governments have endeavored to promote research-oriented higher education but to no avail. Research-oriented culture is sine qua non to improve the country's economic conditions as well. There seems a chasm between the industry and the academia at present. The liaison between universities and the industry can help increase the country's gross domestic product.

Research creates new knowledge so the higher education as well as the state-run research institutions are to be encouraged in this regard. Pakistan's economy could turn into a knowledge economy incase research is carried out in the fields of tourism, energy, mining, automobile, agriculture, chemical industry, medicines, textile, etc. on modern lines.

Almost all leading world economies such as the USA, South Korea, Japan, Germany, the UK, China, others are knowledge driven. It is pertinent to question that how much new knowledge is created...