Universities across Pakistan are under sustained stress, but the fault lines are perhaps most visible in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. When the University of Peshawar, the province's premier public institution, struggles to pay salaries and survives on emergency government grants and borrowing, it is tempting to frame the problem as a temporary financial shortfall. That framing is misleading. What is unfolding in K-P mirrors a deeper national malaise: Pakistan's public universities are not merely underfunded; they are being slowly stripped of relevance, autonomy and purpose.

At the heart of the problem lies a growing perception of irrelevance. Degrees no longer signal capability. Employers complain, graduates feel betrayed, and society quietly withdraws its trust. This is because universities have remained stuck in obsolete curricula and pedagogies. Modern education rests on three pillars: conceptual understanding, interpersonal competence, and technical skill. Pakistani universities, by contrast, still prioritise rote learning, outdated content and examination........

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