The programme aims to strengthen leadership at institutional and national levels, to enable leaders in HE to further their country’s progression towards international standards in partnership with the UK, and improving UK’s understanding of Higher Education opportunities in Pakistan and its perception. Six senior representatives from Pakistan attended the Going Global 3 Conference from 3-5 Dec 2008 in London while five delegates attended Going Global 4 conference in March 2010. In addition, six delegates took part in a roundtable to develop the basis of a framework for split-site PhD programmes between universities in the United Kingdom and Pakistan. Also, a thirteen member delegation took part in the recent Going Global 5 conference in March 2011. The delegation represented the academia, industry and the British Council.

Going Global 5 - World Education: The New Powerhouse?

The Going Global 5 Conference was held in Hong Kong in March 2011 with Pakistan one of the most visible countries attending. Going Global 4 attracted over 1,200 delegates from more than 70 countries last year, making it one of the largest international education conferences for policy makers and practitioners. The conference aims to generate valuable discourse on crucial issues surrounding education. This year’s conference themes revolved around global higher education, new approaches to internationalisation, industry’s involvement and participation in higher education and more.

Pakistan was well represented in this conference with the delegation including six senior representatives from the Higher Education Commission, Universities and the business sector. Dr. Javaid Laghari, Chairman, Higher Education Commission Pakistan (HEC), was one of the four panellists in the plenary session titled “World education: The New Powerhouse” which was attended by all Going Global participants.

Dr. Laghari also chaired a closed session on INSPIRE Regional Policy Dialogue which was managed by Lynne Heslop, Regional Educational Advisor for South Asia, British Council. The Regional Policy Dialogue was organised by the British Council Pakistan and the HEC last year in November and focussed on areas such as innovation in research and knowledge transfer. In addition to the Going Global sessions, Dr. Laghari also had bilateral meetings with the CEO British Council, Martin Davidson and the UK Minister for Higher Education and Sciences, David Willets.

Pakistani delegates had individual meetings with delegations from other countries to explore future opportunities and partnerships. One of the delegates, Dr. Jillian Taylor from Karakurum International University, discussed possible collaborations with Australia, UK, India and Turkey.

Internationalisation of Higher Education has been a key agenda for the Higher Education sector across the globe. The Going Global Conference paves the way for potential partnerships and collaborations worldwide.

Roundtable on split-side PhD programmes:

A six member delegation with Dr. Javaid Laghari, Dr. Mukhtar Ahmed and Shaikh Muhammad Ali representing the Higher Education Commission Pakistan, Lt. Gen Muhammad Asghar from National University of Sciences and Technology, Prof. Dr. A. Q. Rajput, Vice Chancellor, University of Engineering and Technology, and Dr Junaid Zaidi Rector, COMSATS participated in a roundtable on 29th and 30th March 2010 held in the UK. The purpose of the roundtable was to discuss the potential of and develop a framework for, a split-side PhD programmes between universities in Pakistan and the UK.