It's a pity that Pakistan was ranked at 131 out of 141 countries in the 2015 report of the Global Innovation Index — which explores the impact of innovation-oriented policies on economic growth and development.

The Ministry of Science and Technology, upon inquiry from the National Assembly, stated in a report that the reasons for the country's poor ranking include:

1) Low percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for science and development.

2) Low standards of science education in our educational institutions.

Emphasising only on Pakistan's low ranking, the Ministry of Science and Education fell short of mentioning why 61,000 researchers with 10,670 PhDs in Pakistan, which is by no means a minuscule figure, are not significantly contributing to the country's technological development.

Even though the Higher Education Commission (HEC) has sent thousands of scholars abroad for PhDs since 2002 and spent billions of rupees, the history of Pakistan’s innovation index over the past five years reveal interesting facts.

The country's GII index has declined significantly from 2011 (the maximum), despite the fact that thousands of PhDs have returned to Pakistan after completing their degrees during this period.

This is alarming.

It shows that instead of lamenting over the deteriorating condition of basic science education in Pakistan, we must search for the problem elsewhere.

Switzerland, the top-ranked country on GII's list, has 57 per cent of researchers from foreign countries due to the numerous incentives offered to them. But in Pakistan, there are no special packages, allowances or incentives for researchers.