The Barriers and Challenges Faced by Private Sector Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in Promoting Sustainable Development: A Qualitative Inquiry in Pakistan

Abstract

Private sector higher education institutions (HEIs) play a significant rolein advancement of sustainability. In Pakistan still this concept is in stageof infancy and has received little research attention. Moreover, HEIs inprivate sector are facing a lot of barriers and challenges in itsimplementation. In this backdrop, the purpose of this exploratory study isto determine the roles, barriers and challenges for development ofsustainable private sector HEIs in Punjab using semi-structuredinterviews form 11 faculty members working in private sector HEIs inPunjab, thematic analysis was carried out using NVivo 12. In general, allthe participants agreed that private sector HEIs are the knowledgecreating institutes and they can actively promote the sustainabledevelopment in Pakistan through faculty training and active involvementof all the stakeholders and action oriented research. Major barriers werefound to be lack of finance, poor research culture, faculty incompetencyand inadequate management support. It is suggested that HEIs must usethe resources in an optimal manner and develop appropriate class roomenvironment, effective curriculum, right technology usage, solutionbased research and well developed infrastructure to generate theinnovative solutions for sustainable development.

Impact of knowledge oriented leadership on sustainable service quality of higher education institutes

“…The main objective is to provide knowledge and skills to the people for adopting necessary behaviors for a sustainable lifestyle, gender equality and sustainable culture (UNESCO, 2014). Declaration of education for sustainable development gained significant importance, but yet there is a lack of academic research on this topic (Shulla et al , 2020; Waqas et al , 2019). This approach is crucial because education plays a vital role in realizing the dream of a sustainable future (Shulla et al , 2020; Perović and Kosor, 2020).…”

The Impact and Efficiency of Electronic Libraries In Various Districts of Punjab, Pakistan

“…Research study highlighted that Pakistan's Higher Education Institutes face financial problems and infrastructure non-accessibility that hinder the development of a conducive learning environment for students. Government of Punjab (GOP) has taken an initiative to set up e-libraries in different districts of Punjab (Waqas et al, 2019) in view of this need. The key purpose of developing e-libraries is to make electronic literacy, digital culture simpler and more accessible to the general population and the entire world.…”