Pakistani universities are accepting new students. Admissions are open. However, universities seem to be more interested in selling their admission forms - attracting quality intake has taken a back seat. The critical task of matching students with universities/academic programs has been turned into a money making scheme.

If you are one of the applicants in the ongoing university entrance process in Pakistan, here is what these seats of higher learning have planned for you:

- Each university conducts a separate admission test, for which high fees are charged.

- Very few universities have their admission forms and procedures available on the internet, causing inconvenience to students in procurement of these documents.

- Entrance exam dates overlap, forcing students to chose a university even before attempting the entrance exam.

- There is no mechanism for rating universities or academic programs, forcing students and their parents to chose a university without much information.

Usman Arshad recently returned to Pakistan after doing his A levels. His first exposure to higher education sector in Pakistan has left him confused about his future. He said “I have been accepted at Bahria University, Islamabad, where last date for submission of fees to confirm admission is 26th July. Another university is holding its admission test on the very same date. I am not sure what I am going to do.”

When asked to comment, Mrs. Ahsan, mother of a student participating in the ongoing admissions process said “ It is impossible to objectively chose a university in Pakistan – there is very little known about them and I wonder if anybody is thinking about these issues.” Mrs. Ahsan is visiting from UAE where her husband has been working for the past couple of decades in financial services.

There are also allgations that universities are concealing and even giving our incomplete misleading information. Most university brochures, printed in four color on glossy paper are wordy, offer little content. University web sites, generally speaking, are unfriendly and sometimes outdated.

Designing standardized, meaningful aptitude/IQ tests is a specialist task. One wonders if all universities have the capacity in terms of expertise and processes to ensure that requirements and standards are met? Consistent, objective and relevant evaluation of students for suitable placement is an extremely tricky business. What arrangements do these universities have to fulfill their responsibilities in this regards will remain a secret. What necessitates each university conducting a separate test will also remain a mystery.

An organization by the name of National Testing Service (NTS) was formed sometimes back. It has been conducting entrance tests for COMSATS Institute of Information Technology but has failed to deliver on its role as the ‘national’ testing service. How much public money has gone down this drain will be an interesting piece of information that MoST or HEC can reveal in one of their upcoming press releases.

All those institutions, which get their human resource from the same pool of civil servants as police or railways, will not deliver any thing substantially different from police or railways - regardless of how much money you put into them.

We immediately need an internationally comparable standardized university entrance exam. Candidates should be able to take one test against one fee. A ranking of all students along with a ranking of all universities/academic programs should be available – enabling both students and universities to make informed choices. Just as students try to get the best deal, universities also need to lure top of the line students with scholarships etc.

This is one of the important objectives that can be facilitated if university CEOs sit together. It can be organized as Rectors Roundtable, initially meeting quarterly to develop consensus and co-operation that need synergistic solutions. It may also be useful to develop a unified university voice to counter the attack of the bureaucrats in the garb of HEC and others on the newly rich universities of Pakistan.