By Shabbir Sarwar

PHOENIX: The QS (Quacquarelli Symonds) Ranking 2016 is out with none of the Pakistani universities making a place among top 100 Asian universities while eight Indian institutes managed to get to the list.
Only two Pakistani universities ranked among the top 200 Asian universities i.e. Quaid-i-Azam University (QAU) and National University of Science and Technology (NUST), while there are 16 from India, 55 from China, 24 from Taiwan, 11 from Turkey, 06 each from Israel and Hong Kong, 4 each from Iran and Malaysia, 3 from Saudia Arabia in the top 200.
Out of 100 marks, Pakistani higher education system scored only 9.2, while China 83.5, South Korea 80.1, Singapore 62.3, India 60.9, Chile 46.7 and Saudi Arabia 36.7.
Surprising Patterns: There are some very surprising patterns, which makes the QS Rating controversial and unacceptable for many:
In Education and Training, University of Lahore is no.1 followed by Abdul Wali Khan University and Balochistan University while University of Education and University of Punjab are nowhere.
In Engineering discipline COMSATS is no. 1 followed by University of Lahore and Lahore University of Management Sciences, while University of Engineering and Technology and other prominent engineering disciplines standing almost nowhere in the rating!
In Business Management, COMSATS is number one followed by LUMS, University of Lahore and Abdul Wali Khan University. LUMS is there but IBA Karachi and LSE are nowhere.
In Agriculture, again COMSATS is no.1 followed by LUMS, UoL, Abdul Wali Khan University, while the largest University of Agriculture Faisalabad is nowhere.
In Physics, COMSATS first followed by UoL, LUMS and Abdul Wali Khan University, however, QAU, GCU and PU are nowhere.
In Sociology, LUMS is first followed by Abdul Wali Khan and Balochistan University, to the surprise of many.
In Journalism subject, Abdul Wali Khan University Mardan has been declared the best University of Pakistan, while other oldest and largest institutions have no say.
The QS rating claims adopting a star system from 0-5 on the basis on 50 indicators, which includes research, teaching, employability, facilities, distance learning, arts and culture and inclusiveness.