The Higher Education Commission of Pakistan is accelerating its efforts to digitise public universities through a wide-ranging transformation program aimed at replacing outdated manual systems with modern, tech-enabled processes. The initiative, designed to enhance efficiency and access across Pakistan’s higher education institutions, is part of the ongoing Higher Education Development Project, launched in 2019 with financial assistance from the World Bank.
For years, students, faculty, and administrative staff in public universities have struggled with cumbersome paper-based systems for everyday tasks such as course registration, record requests, and fee management. The shift toward digital operations aims to improve student services, academic administration, and campus management by integrating smarter tools across the board. A core objective is to remove inefficiencies and enhance service delivery to all stakeholders in the higher education ecosystem.
A major pillar of this transformation is the Pakistan Education and Research Network, or PERN, which now connects over 300 universities and higher education institutions with high-speed internet access. PERN enables remote campuses to access national and international academic resources, reducing disparities for students in underserved areas. Despite being a lesser-known concept in public discourse, National Research and Education Networks like PERN serve as vital infrastructure in many countries, facilitating the exchange of knowledge across academic institutions.
Supporting this digital backbone is Maktab, a locally developed enterprise resource planning system based on SAP infrastructure. Maktab enables digital consolidation of student enrollment, finance, human resources, examinations, and fee management into a unified platform. Students enrolling in PERN-connected universities can now navigate their academic journeys through a fully digitised system, from admission to graduation, reducing administrative costs and delays across campuses that have implemented the system.
In tandem with software upgrades, HEC has also developed physical infrastructure to support digital services. Two advanced datacenters, named Astrolabe, have been established in Lahore and Karachi. These centers offer cloud storage, secure data processing, and academic application hosting, enabling universities to manage institutional data and deploy digital solutions more effectively. With these facilities in place, students and faculty can benefit from high-performance computing and storage capacity previously unavailable in many public institutions.
Recognising the importance of human capacity alongside infrastructure, HEC, through the National Academy of Higher Education, has trained more than 1,100 faculty members and 900 administrative staff in digital tools, online pedagogy, and academic management practices. This effort ensures that the technology being introduced is effectively integrated into the day-to-day functions of the institutions.
An independent review completed by the end of 2024 reported that the digital transformation program had achieved over 95 percent of its goals, leading to a performance upgrade by the World Bank. Despite some universities still facing resistance to change or infrastructure limitations in regions with poor connectivity, the progress so far underscores the potential for creating a more efficient and digitally enabled university system in Pakistan.
