Abstract

Statistics education is essential for developing countries like Pakistan to achieve sustainable development through data-driven policies. To create such policies, Pakistan requires professionals with strong statistical knowledge and skills. This can only be achieved if Pakistani universities produce statisticians capable of contributing to effective policy formulation. However, with the rise of data science and the growing popularity of degrees in information technology and computer sciences, enrollment in statistics programs has declined in most Pakistani universities since 2019. As a result, statistics departments across the country are struggling to attract and retain students.
This situation calls for an investigation into the perceptions of three key stakeholders: students of statistics, faculty members, and statistical officers from the National Office of Statistics in Pakistan. The study aims to assess the challenges in statistics education and the level of awareness regarding career prospects for statistics graduates. Additionally, it aims to gather opinions on potential strategies to address these challenges and foster sustainable statistics education through the implementation of locally effective strategies.