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Hoping for new policies in education

 By Martin Thomas

PAKISTAN is getting ready for the election process. Assemblies will be formed and hopefully complete their tenure. New policies will be planned and many reforms will be introduced. However, it is good to keep the major concerns of the nation in view before planning policies. Although, everyone is familiar with concerns of education in Pakistan and the previous governments had been taking initiatives to improve the condition of education in the country, it is always good to revisit and restate the issues so that no one forgets them. The following are some concerns of education in Pakistan.

In spite of the educational reforms and interventions that the government introduced, Pakistan has had a very slow pace of progress in education when compared with the developing countries which received independence more or less in the same years. The objective of universalisation of primary education is still to be achieved and the whole education system lacks in both counts of quantity and quality. Education in Pakistan is a topic which is discussed many times but hardly ever is something done for it practically. The Government of Pakistan relies heavily on external funds and keeps very little from its own GDP for education. Throughout the history, allocation of the budget for education in Pakistan has remained far below four per cent, which is the minimum requirement identified by funding agencies and human development reports.

The educational sector is poorly funded. It therefore has many problems. One of these is the unavailability of resources, that is, physical resources, financial resources and human resources. I myself visited more than 30 schools in four districts of Sindh, namely, Hyderabad, Thatta, Kairpur and Sukkur and have found government schools in these districts in a poor condition.

During my visit to Thatta, I found that one of the schools in Bathero was functioning in a tent. Similarly, a school in Sakkro was running in a hutch-like structure made with hay. When I enquired about this, the head teacher told me that the school had only one room therefore the local community had constructed the tent to teach the students in separate classes. The same teacher told me that there were almost 1,000 single-room schools in the district with a multi-grade classroom scenario.

The other three districts (Hyderabad, Khairpur and Sukkur) also have single-room schools but the situation is comparatively better in Hyderabad and Sukkur. The condition of schools in other provinces is also not so encouraging.

Apart from physical facilities, there are many schools throughout the fewer provinces which are under-staffed. There are two major reasons for this. The first is the less number of appointed teachers by the government and the second is political influence of the elected or selected members. Many schools in the district of Thatta were seen under-staffed and therefore various NGOs had hired volunteers and local people on no pay or a low pay to help the teachers teach the students.

However, there was evidence of political influence too. For example, one of the schools in a remote area of Khairpur was under-staffed and hence each teacher was taking care of two classes simultaneously. The situation was inversed in another school from the same district but situated in a city area. In this school, there were two teachers in each of the classrooms. When I inquired about this from the head teacher, I found that teachers, particularly female ones, did not want to go to the remote areas, therefore, they built up pressure on the government officials and got themselves appointed in schools located in the city area.

Another evidence of political pressure was found in another district of Thatta. There was a school functioning under a tree with only a few student benches, a teacher’s table, a teacher’s chair and a blackboard hanging from a tree. When I inquired about this from the teacher, I found that the school had a building with two rooms and small courtyard but it was occupied by a government official.

Another problem in relation to funding is lack of teacher motivation. Many teachers, particularly in the remote areas of different provinces, work as servants in the landlords’ houses or fields to meet their family needs. This is because the salary scales of teachers are very low. According to the government, the salaries of the teachers, particularly primary teachers, are even lower than domestic servants.

The human capital hypothesis suggests that investment in education is conceptually identical to an investment in physical capital. Therefore, the Federal Government of Pakistan should never let the budget of education go below four per cent. In fact it should gradually increase year by year. To reduce political pressure on the schooling system, there should be a sound monitoring and evaluation system.

Apart from the unavailability or lack of physical, human and financial resources, teachers are poorly prepared for teaching. They use traditional methods of teaching and often award corporal punishments. They rely heavily on tests to assess students’ performances and do not use ongoing assessment techniques such as observation, oral questions, project work and so on. Therefore they are unable to change their classrooms into thinking classrooms. It is also seen that most of the college and university lecturers and professors are not trained in pedagogical skills. I believe, all teachers, whether they are teaching in schools, colleges or universities, require pedagogical training. Therefore, there should be a sufficient amount of funding available to educate school teachers and college and university lecturers and professors. Funding agencies and generous people should also be encouraged to pool funds for introducing in-service programmes in schools, colleges and universities.

Another major problem attached with the issue of education is that students as well as parents do not believe that acquiring education is an end in itself. In terms of human development objectives, education is an end in itself, not just a means to an end. However, most of the people are unaware of the enduring benefits of education. Therefore, community awareness programmes should be introduced by involving media, street theatre groups, puppeteers and so on to create awareness, particularly among the people of the remote areas of the country. These groups should highlight the positive impact of education on the local economy (education helps in increasing daily wages of educated labourers and in increasing agricultural growth), family health, family planning and so on.

As indicated earlier, one of the main focuses of almost all the policies was universalisation of primary education. This focus was the right focus. Investment in primary education has emerged as a powerful engine for accelerating economic growth. Different countries, particularly South Asian countries, have used primary education to increase their economic growth. In contrast with higher education, primary education can be provided even to the masses by using minimum resources. However, there is empirical evidence that those who acquire only primary education, revert back to illiteracy after a passage of time. Therefore our focus should be universalisation of elementary education (classes I to VIII) in the future rather than just primary education. Those who will successfully complete an elementary education will not only increase the literacy rate of the country but also ensure sustainable education.

In addition to elementary education, we also need leaders and policy makers. Therefore, with elementary education, the government should also concentrate on tertiary education. The 21st century is the century of knowledge. Knowledge is required to utilise a country’s natural resources effectively. Those countries which have knowledgeable people will be able to use their resources well but those which have none or less knowledgeable people will be left behind. We therefore cannot neglect higher education.

A problem attached to the current higher education is that the length of our university study is almost two years less than that of the international courses. On the other hand, some unauthorised institutes (colleges or universities) are educating students whose degrees are not accepted nationally and internationally. Therefore, the government should strictly follow the assessment and implementation policies of the Higher Education Commission (HEC) to align our higher studies with international standards. However, there are some institutions here, which are affiliated with foreign universities and are extremely good in terms of the teaching and learning environment. Their degrees need to be recognised.

To conclude I would say, there are many points to be highlighted but whatever is mentioned here is enough as a starter. Let us hope for a bright future.

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سنڌ ۾ تعليم جي تباهي جا اصل ذميوار ڪير؟

نالي ماتر آزاد ڪيل ٽي دنيا جي نام نهاد آزاد ۽ خود مختيار ۽ حقيقت ۾ ذري گهٽ غلام ملڪن جون اسٽيبلشمنٽون ظاهري طور پنهنجي ملڪ جي عوام جي مفادن جي ترجماني ڪنديون آهن ۽ اندروني طور رات ڏينهن پنهنجي آقا سامراجي ملڪن جي عالمي مفادن لاءِ ٽيهن نسن جا زور لڳائينديون آهن.

هو ظاهري طور پنهنجي ملڪ جي ”قومي مفادن“ لاءِ ٻين ملڪن سان گوڙ فساد ڪنديون رهنديون آهن پر سندن اصلي جنگ اٺ ئي پهر پنهنجي ملڪ جي عوام خلاف هلندي رهندي آهي ته جيئن اهو عوام سدائين انڌو، ٻوڙو، گونگو ۽ آقائن جو ٻانهن ٻڌو ٻانهو بڻيو رهي ۽ پنهنجي حقن، وسيلن، عزتن ۽ آزادين لاءِ چپ به نه چوري سگهي. پنهنجي ملڪ جي عوام خلاف ان دائمي جنگ ۾ هو اهي سمورا گر ۽ حربا استعمال ڪنديون آهن، جيڪي کين دشمنن سان جنگ ڪرڻ لاءِ سيکاريا ويندا آهن.

ٻه سادا ۽ بنيادي اصول!

لڙائي ۽ جاسوسي جا ٻه سادا ۽ بنيادي اصول آهن، دوکو ۽ ٻهروپ. هر حملي جي رٿا تيار ڪرڻ سان گڏ رٿا ڪندڙ اسٽاف آفيسرن کي حملي جي اصلي نشاني ۽ مقصد کي لڪائي دشمن کي دوکو ڏيڻ ۽ گمراهه ڪرڻ لاءِ ٻي رٿا به شامل ڪرڻي هوندي آهي. جنهن کي انگريزي ۾ “Deception Plan” چيو ويندو آهي. هر ايجنٽ جي اصل حيثيت ۽ مشن کي لڪائڻ لاءِ کيس هڪڙي مخصوص ٻهروپي ڪردار (ڊاڪٽر، درويش، فقير، اديب، قومي ڪارڪن، انقلابي ڪارڪن ۽ رهنما) جو پوش پهرايو ويندو آهي. ان ٻهروپ کي انگريزيءَ ۾ “Cover” (پوش) چيو ويندو آهي. ڪڏهن ڪڏهن ڪن ايجنٽن جا ”ڪور“ اهڙا سچا پچا ۽ مقبول عام هوندا آهن جو عام ماڻهو صدين تائين تصور ئي نه ڪري سگهندا ته ڪو هي ماڻهو اصل ۾ ڪا بنهه ٻي بڇڙي بلا آهي. انگلينڊ جي جاسوسي کاتي جي سرڪاري تاريخ ۾ اها حقيقت تسليم ڪئي ويئي آهي ته جو ناٿن سوفٽ (1745- 1667) (مصنف: گليرو جو سير ۽ سفر وغيره) ۽ سامر سيٽ ماهم (1965- 1847) جهڙا انگريزي ادب جي آسمان جا جڳ مشهور روشن ستارا به ان شاندار ادبي پردي هيٺ ڳجهه ڳوهه ۾ برطانوي جاسوسي کاتي جا ڳجها ايجنٽ هئا.

هڪ ڊگهو عياري وارو منصوبو!

اٽڪل 30- 35 سال اڳ پنجابي- مهاجر اسٽيبلشمنٽ ۽ سندن تابعدارن بنگالي پاڪستانين کي رت ۾ وهنجاري ڊوڙائي ڪڍي، اولهه پاڪستان (هاڻوڪي ڀڳل ٽٽل نالي ماتر پاڪستان) تي ڊڪٽيٽري قبضو ڪري ورتو، تڏهن مون لکت ۾ سنڌي قوم کي چتاءُ ڏنو هو ته هاڻ سنڌي قوم وري به ان بي وس ۽ بي واهه حالت ۾ اچي ويئي آهي، جنهن حالت ۾ اها هندو دائمي اڪثريت جي ڊپ کان 1947ع ۾ هندستان کان ڇڄي ڌار ٿي هئي. مون ان وقت لکيو هو ۽ اڄ بار بار چوندو ۽ لکندو رهيو آهيان ته اها اسٽيبلشمنٽ رات ڏينهن هڪ سوچيل سمجهيل ڊگهي ۽ عياري واري منصوبي مطابق سنڌين جي قومي وجود کي تباهه ۽ برباد ڪرڻ جي ڌنڌي ۾ لڳل آهي ۽ ڪو اهو ڏينهن نه ٿو گذري جنهن ۾ هو ڪانه ڪا سنڌ دشمن داداگيري ۽ رهزني ڪري پنهنجي منصوبن کي ڪاميابي ڏانهن نه ڌڪيندا رهندا هجن.

مون خاص طرح چيو هو ته هي مهربان رات ڏينهن اسلام، قائد اعظم، پاڪستان ۽ ملڪي سالميت ۽ قومي ترقي ۽ خوشحالي جا نعرا هڻندي سنڌي قوم جي قومي وجود جي ٽن هنڌن تي ڪاريون ضربون هڻندا رهندا. (1) پاڻي تي ڌاڙا هڻي سنڌ کي رڻ پٽ بڻائي سنڌي ماڻهن جي وڏي انگ کي جنسي ماري ڇڏڻ (2) سنڌ جي تعليم کي تباهه ڪري سنڌين کي جاهل، موڳا ڍور بڻائي سندن وطن ۽ وسيلا ڳڙڪائي ڇڏڻ (3) ٻاهرين صوبن ۽ ملڪن جا ماڻهو گهرائي سنڌين کي پنهنجي وطن ۾ بي وطن ۽ هڪڙي خصيص اقليت بڻائي کين نپوڙي ختم ڪري ڇڏڻ.

هر ناپاڪ مقصد واري آپريشن لاءِ ڪونه ڪو Cover يا پوش گهرجي

تعليم کي تباهه ڪرڻ جي آپريشن کي سنڌ جي آزادي جي ويڙهه جو پوش پهرايو ويو. تعليمي ادارن ۾ ايجنسين جا پالتو ڀتي خور، غنڊا ۽ دهشتگرد شاگردن ۽ استادن طور ڀرتي ڪري کين قومي سورمن ۽ سرواڻن جا پوش پهرائي هٿرادو تعليم دشمن شاگرد ۽ استاد تنظيمون ٺهرائي، آزادي، آجپي، پاڪستان ٽوڙڻ، آزاد ملڪ بڻائڻ جي نعريبازي ڪرائي. اسڪولن ۽ ڪاليجن ۽ يونيورسٽين کي عملي طرح ڄڻ تالا هڻي، حقيقي تعليم، علم، عقل، سائنسي، ٽيڪنالاجي کي نيڪالي ڏيئي شاگردي ۽ استادي جي اعلى پيشن جون قبرون ۽ حقيقي شاگردن جون قتل گاهون بڻايو ويو.

واهه جو ڪم ٿو ڪري!

گهڻو وقت ٿيو هڪڙي دوست کان پڇيم ته تنهنجو چگو مڙس ميمبر ٿيو آهي. ماڻهن جو ڪم ڪار به ڪري ٿو يا نه؟

چيائين ”واهه جو ڪم ٿو ڪري! اٺ ماستري جا آرڊر گهر ويٺي ڏياري موڪليا اٿس“ مون پڇيس ”ماستر ٿيڻ وارن کي به ڪجهه اچي ٿو يا نه؟“ چيائين ”سڀني وٽ مئٽرڪ جا سرٽيفڪيٽ آهن. هونئن ٻه جهڙوڪر اڻ پڙهيل آهن. باقي ٻين سڀني کي پنهنجا نالا ٻالا لکڻ اچن ٿا، خط پَٽَ به پڙهيو وٺن!“

چنگيز خان کي شهر ۽ آباديون ڪونه وڻنديون هيون، جتي ڪو شهر يا آبادي ڏسندو هو اتي سڀ شهري مارائي، شهر ڊهرائي پٽ ڪرائي، پٽ کي هر ڏياري، فوجي گهوڙن لاءِ جَوَ پوکائي ڇڏيندو هو.

ٻي جنگ عظيم ۾ هٽلر سويت روس کي شڪست ڏئي، ان کان پوءِ اتي جيڪو نظام قائم ڪرڻ گهريو ٿي. ان جو منصوبو جنگ کان پوءِ هٿ آيو آهي، ان ۾ لکيل آهي ته روسين لاءِ پرائمري تعليم ڪافي آهي. ان ڪري روس جا سمورا هاءِ اسڪول، ڪاليج ۽ يونيورسٽيون ختم ڪيون وينديون.

اسڪولن ۾ وڏيرن جا ڍور ٻڌل!

پنجابي- مهاجر اسٽيبلشمنٽ ۽ ان جي تابعدار ڀوتارن جي نظر ۾ سنڌي ماڻهن لاءِ پرائمري تعليم جي به ضرورت ناهي. دراصل هو اهو به پسند نه ٿا ڪن ته ڪو سنڌي ٻار سنڌي الف- ب به پڙهي، ان ڪري اڪثر سنڌي اسڪول بند آهن، ماستر غائب آهن، اسڪولن ۾ ڪنهن وڏيري جا ڍور ٻڌا بيٺا آهن. ڪاغذن ۾ پڙهائي باقاعدي هلي پيئي، سر زمين تي ڪاريءَ وارا ڪک آهن. مطلب ته سنڌي قوم سان اهو کليو کلايو، ڏينهن ڏٺي جو فراڊ ۽ قهر ڪن زمانن کان جاري آهي. عالم آشڪار آهي ته ڪيترائي پڙهائيندڙ (ماستر، ليڪچرار، پروفيسر) جعلي آهن. هڪڙا ڪورا ڄٽ پراڻا ڀتي خور ۽ داداگير آهن، ٻيا جن کي چار اکر اچن ٿا سي سرزمين تي آهن ئي ڪونه. آفيسرن کي مقرر منٿيلون ڏيو ٻيا ڌنڌا ڌاڙيون پيا ڪن. جيڪي وڏو احسان ڪريو اچن ٿا، تن مان مس ڪي ٻه چار پڙهائين ٿا، ٻيا ٻه ٽي ڪلاڪ يٽ سٽ هڻيو ڪوري جا ڪورا پگهارون وٺيو موجون پيا ڪن.

لنڊن واري پير جي درگاهه جو ڏن!

ماسترن جي ڀرتيءَ لاءِ موجوده اگهه 60- 70 هزار چيو وڃي ٿو. دانهون پيون ٻڌجن ته گهڻن کان پئسا وٺيو کايو وڃن، سنڌ مان هر مهيني جيڪو ڪروڙين اربين روپين جو ڏن لنڊن واري پهتل پير جي درگاهه ڏانهن وڃي ٿو. تنهن ۾ تعليم جي جعلي ڪاروبار، مان پيدا ڪيل ڪروڙين رپيا به آهن.

اسان جي ڪن فرض شناس، تعليم دوست ۽ قوم جي حبدار حاڪمن کي اجهو هينئر ڪو جاسوسي اطلاع مليو آهي ته سنڌ جي تعليم جو ٻيڙو ٻڏي ويو آهي.

هاڻ نئين ڳالهه ڪهڙي ٿي آهي؟

سرڪار بهادر کي وڌيڪ اطلاع اهو مليل ٿو ڏسجي ته اهو ٻيڙو فقط ڪن استاد تنظيمن جا ڪي اڳواڻ ٻوڙيو ويٺا آهن.

سنڌي ماڻهو نهايت ادب ۽ احترام سان اهو پڇڻ چاهيندا ته جيئن ته اهي تازي عتاب هيٺ آيل تنظيمون ٽيهارو کن سالن کان ڪم ڪري رهيون آهن ۽ اهو ئي ساڳيو ڪم ڪندا رهيا آهن، جنهن تي حاڪم هاڻ اوچتو ڏمرجي پيا آهن ته پوءِ هاڻ نئين ڳالهه ڪهڙي ٿي آهي، جنهن تي هيڏا هنگاما ڪرائي وڌا آهن؟ موجوده حڪومت کي خيرن سان ست- اٺ سال تخت تي ويٺي ٿيا آهن، ڇا ان سموري عرصي ۾ بلڪ 1970ع کان وٺي اڄ تائين تعليم جو قصو هو بهو ائين ڪونه پئي هليو، جيئن هاڻي پيو هلي؟ ڇا اڳي باقاعدي وڏي شان شوڪت، جاهه ۽ جلال سان نغاري جي چوٽ تي اسڪولن، ڪاليجن ۽ يونيورسٽين ۾ ڪاپي ڪلچر ڪو نه پئي هليو؟ ڀتن جي اوڳڙ، داداگيريون، غنڊه گرديون، رهزنيون ۽ قتلام جا واقعا تعليمي ادارن، خاص ڪري يونيورسٽين ۾ سرڪاري سرپرستي هيٺ ڪونه پئي هليا؟ ڇا هڪڙي به غنڊي، قاتل ۽ رهزن کي پوليس هٿ لاٿو؟ ڪنهن کي پنج ڏينهن به سزا آئي؟ گهڻا دهشتگرد ريسٽيڪيٽ ٿيا؟ گهڻن استادن کي نه پڙهائڻ ۽ ڪوڙيون پگهارون کڻڻ جي ڏوهه ۾ سزا ملي؟ گهڻن آفيسرن کي منٿليون وٺڻ، بند اسڪولن، ڪاليجن ۽ ٻين تعليمي ادارن بابت ڪوبه ائڪشن نه وٺڻ، ڄٽن ۽ جاهلن کي غنڊن ۽ بدمعاشن کي نوڪريون ڏيڻ ۽ رشوت وٺڻ جي ڏوهه ۾ برطرف ڪيو ويو ۽ هن سموري بدبوءِ دار قصي جي ذميوار گهڻن وزيرن کان استعيفائون ڏياريون ويون.

هينئر اوچتو ڪهڙي ڳالهه ٿي آهي جو حاڪمن کي غيرت وٺي ويئي آهي، ڇا اهي معتوب عتاب هيٺ آيل استاد اڳواڻ اڳي فرشتا هئا ۽ هاڻي شيطان ٿي ويا آهن؟ جي اهي ۽ فقط اهي ڏوهاري آهن ته پوءِ ڇو نه وڏي ڪنهن خواري، خرابي ۽ پروپئگنڊا بازي جي انهن خلاف گهڻو اڳي قانون مطابق ڪارروائي ڪئي وئي.

پهرين ڏوهاري ٺاهيو، ڪم ڪڍو پوءِ...!

عالمي، علائقائي، ملڪي ۽ مڪاني ڏوهاري ۽ داداگير اختياري وارن جو اهو وطيرو پئي رهيو آهي ته هو پهرين پنهنجي ناجائز مقصدن حاصل ڪرڻ لاءِ عام ماڻهن کي ڏوهاري بڻائي کين شاباسون، انعام اڪرام ڏئي کانئن ڏوهه ڪرائيندا آهن ۽ پنهنجو مطلب ڪڍڻ کان پوءِ انهن کان هٽي پري ٿي بيهندا آهن ۽ انهن تي ڏوهه مڙهي مٿانئن شاهد ٿي بيهندا آهن ته هي ههڙا خراب آهن ۽ هنن ههڙا ههڙا ڏوهه ڪيا، امريڪا شاهه ايران، ضياءَ الحق، صدام حسين، نگودن ديم جهڙن پنهنجن ماڻهن کي ٽيڪريون ڏيئي کانئن ٽين دنيا ۾ تباهيون ۽ برباديون ڪرايون ۽ پوءِ وري انهن مان ڪم ڪڍي کين ڄڻ ته سوريءَ تي چاڙهي ڇڏيو.

سرڪاري آشيرواد، ساٿ ۽ سهڪار!

ننڍڙي ٻار کي به خبر آهي ته تعليم جو موجوده نظام جهڙو آهي، تهڙو هيترا سال سرڪار جي مڪمل ۽ پرجوش آشيرواد ۽ ساٿ ۽ سهڪار کان سواءِ نه ڪو اڳ هلي سگهيو ٿي، نه ڪو هاڻي هلي سگهي ٿو. انهن ئي سنڌ جي تعليم جو ٻيڙو غرق ڪيو آهي. ماسترن ويچارن جي ڪهڙي مجال آهي جو ايڏو وڏو تاريخي جرم اڪيلي سر ڪري سگهن، ڇا سرڪار جا هيترا ڪٽڪ اوچتو انڌا، ٻوڙا ۽ گونگا ٿي ويا هئا جو هيڏو سارو زمانو انهن کي خبر ئي نه پئي ته هيترا سؤ اسڪول، هاءِ اسڪول ۽ ڪاليج عملي طرح بند پيا آهن ۽ هزارن جو اسٽاف مفت جون پگهارون پيو کڻي ۽ ڪامورا منٿليون وٺيو اکيون پوريو ٻائو ٻڌو ٿيو ويٺا، ٻڙڪ ٻاهر نٿا ڪڍن؟ ڪوڙيون داخلائون، ڪوڙيون حاضريون، ڪوڙا رجسٽر، ڪوڙا امتحان ۽ ڪوڙي رزلٽ ۽ ڊگريون، اهو سڄو شاهي چرخو ڇا پنهنجو پاڻ پئي هليو ڇا؟ مرڪز ۽ صوبي جا هزارين ڪامورا جاسوس ۽ ايجنٽ تن کي ڇا نانگ سونگي ويو هو يا چپن تي مهرون لڳي ويون هئن، جو هيترا سارا سال ٻڙڪ به ٻاهر نٿي ڪڍيائون. سنڌ جي تباهي جا اصل مجرم اسلام آباد ۾ ويٺا آهن، جيڪي سنڌي قوم کي انڌي، ٻوڙي ۽ گونگي قوم بڻائي تاريخ جي صفحن تان ميسارڻ جي منصوبي تي رات ڏينهن جوش خروش سان عمل ڪرائي رهيا آهن. جيڪڏهن ڪا سزا ڏيڻي آهي ته اول انهن کي ۽ انهن جي ڇاڙتن کي ڏجي ۽ پوءِ بلاشڪ ڏوهاري ماسترن، ليڪچرارن، پروفيسرن ۽ منتظمن کي به سيکت ڏني وڃي ڇو ته اهي به هن تاريخي قومي جرم ۾ ڪي گهٽ ڏوهاري نه ليکبا.

سنڌي عوام جو پُرزور مطالبو آهي ته تعليمي تباهي بابت اعلى سطح تي جاچ ڪرائي ڏوهارين کي سزائون ڏنيون وڃن ۽ موجوده مجرمانه پاليسي بنيادي طرح تبديل ڪري سنڌي قوم جي پڙهڻ، سکڻ، سمجهڻ ۽ پنهنجا حق، وسيلا، عزتون، آزاديون ماڻڻ جو حق تسليم ڪيو وڃي.

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Access, quality and relevance

 By Rabia Garib

RAPID advances in science and technology, especially during the last several decades, have led to a division of the world into a few countries which have advanced rapidly and become producers of technology-based products and processes, leaving other nations behind. In this new world in which innovation determines progress, Pakistan has made a late but spectacular start which is now resulting in the transformation of our universities and centres of higher learning.

The Higher Education Commission (HEC) was established in October 2002 and Prof Dr Atta-ur-Rahman, FRS, was appointed its first chairman. Under his visionary leadership, HEC launched a very aggressive programme to tackle three core problems in the higher education sector — access, quality and relevance of higher education.

At the time of the establishment of HEC, a little over five years ago, only 2.7 per cent of our youth aged between 17-23 had access to higher education. This compares poorly with the rapidly developing countries. In Korea, for instance, 88 per cent of the students of the same age group have access to higher education. In India it is presently nine per cent of the same age group. HEC therefore embarked on an ambitious programme to increase enrollment and there has been a 50 per cent increase already. The current enrollment is 3.7 per cent of this age group, and HEC plans to take it to 10 per cent over the next 10 years.

The main challenge faced by the higher education sector in Pakistan is that of quality which is closely linked to the quality and creativity of the faculty members in our universities. The higher education sector had been allowed to deteriorate and collapse over the last 50 years, reflected by the diminishing funding of the higher education sector as a percentage of the total allocation to education. In the first five year plan in the 1950s, the higher education sector was allocated 32 per cent of the national education budget but this was allowed to diminish to about two per cent of the total education budget by the year 2000.

This criminal negligence by successive governments resulted in erosion of the university education system, and most universities were transformed to low-level colleges by the late 1990s.

After the establishment of the HEC, there has been a much-needed increase in the budget of the higher education sector which is now about 14 per cent of the total education budget, but the proportion is still far too low. This increase must be continued by successive governments so that we can reach international norms of two-third national funding to the lower education sector and one-third to the higher education sector.

There are some 11,000 faculty members in Pakistani universities out of which only about 3,000 possess PhD degrees and of these only about 600 are active in research.

HEC has rightly focused its programmes on faculty development and about 60 per cent of its funding is devoted to scholarships. Projects worth over Rs35 billion for scholarships have already been approved and projects worth another Rs25 billion are in process of approval. The universities are growing at an average rate of about 15 per cent, and the PhD level faculty requirements are at least another 25,000 over the next decade. To cope with this shortage of PhD level manpower, HEC has already sent about 2,000 students abroad for PhD, and it is now sending about 1,000 students abroad each year after a very competitive selection process. This involves the holding of a national test every two months in which 12,000-15,000 students appear and the best performing 300-400 are short-listed. These are then interviewed by teams of foreign visiting scientists from Germany, France and other countries. In order to ensure that they return on completion of their PhDs and are not lost to the West, HEC has taken the following comprehensive measures:

i) Each HEC scholar studying for PhD in a foreign country can compete and win a research grant of up to Rs6 million in the last year of his PhD abroad. This will allow returning scholars to buy equipment and research materials well before their return to Pakistan and help them to settle down in their academic/research institutes.

ii) The salary structure of faculty members has been increased dramatically, and Pakistan today is the only country in the world in which a professor can have a salary which is five to six times that of federal ministers in the government. This has been done through the introduction of a ‘tenure track’ system in which faculty members are appointed on temporary contract appointments for up to six years, with two independent external evaluations being conducted by an international panel of experts in technologically-advanced countries in respect of research productivity and creativity, the first evaluation taking place after three years and the second after six years. Salaries are up to Rs312,000 per month and the maximum tax payable by teachers in universities is only five per cent. Grant of tenure is given only after positive evaluation by the external committees. If the evaluations are not positive, the contracts are terminated.

iii) After a careful statistical analysis, HEC is sending students for MPhil/PhD studies largely to those countries where the standards of education are high but the ‘loss’ rate is very low such as Germany, France, Sweden, Italy, etc. Countries such as USA and UK are being avoided in such programmes, except for one programme, the Fulbright programme, under which 640 students are being sent abroad to the Ivy league universities in the US. However, in this case 2/3 of the funding is being provided by USAID and only 1/3 by HEC.

iv) Students being sent abroad have jobs to comeback to.

v) Arrangements have been made with the foreign embassies that they are not given work visas abroad on completion of their PhDs.

vi) Students are normally required to sign bonds and deposit property documents against the funds being provided for their education, exceptions being made in the case of poor students.

Another programme focused on strengthening of faculty is directed at attracting high quality researchers from technologically advanced countries. This foreign faculty hiring programme has been very successful and over 500 eminent scholars who have lived most of their lives abroad have returned to Pakistan on long-term and short-term basis. Some 45 mathematicians, largely from Eastern Europe (which is reputed to have some of the top mathematicians in the world) have been clustered in one institution — Government College University, Lahore — and a world class centre of mathematics is now emerging.

Under another programme launched by HEC, over 2,000 bright young students have been offered indigenous scholarships to carry out their PhD programmes within Pakistan. There is strong emphasis to ensure the high quality of this local PhD programme which includes passing of an international subject GRE examination before admission into the PhD programme, evaluation of PhD thesis by two eminent experts in technologically advanced countries and publication of at least one paper in an HEC-recognised journal. In order to improve the quality of indigenous PhD students, HEC has introduced a sandwich type split PhD system under which PhD students have the opportunity of spending some time abroad in a technologically-advanced country. A post-doctoral programme for students completing PhD degrees locally has been introduced by the HEC which allows local PhDs to widen their horizons and get further training abroad.

These and other programmes are rapidly changing the state of our universities. The real changes will become apparent in about 5-10 years with the induction of thousands of bright young men and women as highly qualified faculty members of our universities. Some 250 young PhDs will return next year after obtaining PhD degrees abroad, 600 in the year after that, and over a thousand each year thereafter. That is when the major impact of HEC programmes will be apparent, although we already see a remarkable 360 per cent increase in internationally abstracted research publications from Pakistan over the last four years.

Successive governments must build on these and the many other valuable initiatives of the HEC, which are bringing about dramatic changes in the higher education sector in Pakistan.

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