This study investigates the perceptions and experiences of students regarding the various aspects of online education while studying at the Pakistani Higher Education Institutes (HEIs) and universities that shifted to online modes of instruction during the COVID-19 pandemic. The focus of this study was to identify the level of satisfaction of students with the support being provided to them by their institutes and instructors; the use of different modes of communication and assessment methods; and their home study environment. It also explored the positively and negatively influencing factors affecting online education, as perceived by them. An online questionnaire-based cross-sectional survey research design was chosen for conducting this study. Data were collected from 707 respondents belonging to various Pakistani HEIs and universities and analyzed using the SPSS software. The results revealed a considerable dissatisfaction among the study population regarding online education being provided to them during the COVID pandemic. The participants raised concerns over the lack of institutional support and the quality of online instruction. Other issues raised included unsuitable study environments, unavailability of electricity, and connectivity issues. Overall, the majority of the students indicated that they would not like to opt for online classes in the future once the pandemic was over.

This study was carried out to investigate the current and prospective challenges faced by academic libraries in Pakistan and to present possible solutions addressing these challenges. The research design was qualitative, adopting the phenomenology approach. In-depth interviews of 14 senior academic library leaders from public and private sector universities of Pakistan were conducted. Leadership crisis was identified as the top challenge followed by those related to changing user behavior, human resources, financial, technological issues, and changes in higher education. Prospective challenges encompassed issues related to technological modalities, human resources, research data management and library space. While the study participants indicated their readiness to cope with these challenges, they agreed that there was a need of collective effort for human capacity building, initiation of compatible smart services, effective policy making and creation of societal awareness. The support from key players such as the library professionals, library associations, top management, LIS schools, HEC and other funding agencies was deemed to be vital for this purpose.

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