Moalims

The Higher Education Commission (HEC) is asserting its power by exhorting universities to strictly follow the prescribed guidelines, without ensuring quality in delivery of service.
Undoubtedly, the HEC has a point — MPhils and PhDs are being churned out in astonishingly large numbers and at a pace which is mind-boggling. Most of the supervisors for PhD are wanting in the necessary skills to publish a good international journal. Phony characters that have made their way to the corridors of the HEC influence decision-making to the detriment of the thinned out cohort of genuine scholars.
Therefore, some mechanism is needed to ascertain a distinction between the spurious and the genuine – for many charlatans have come to inhabit the many newly-established university campuses.
Sub-standard research, supervised by charlatans, has rendered the process of higher education an exercise in futility. At their behest, the stipulation that all locally produced PhD theses should be examined by experts from technologically advanced countries is flouted with impunity. China for instance, is a technologically advanced country, but its advancement in the field of social sciences and humanities, or even in theoretical sciences, is highly questionable. The same is the case for Malaysia and Turkey.
The practice of facilitating favourite academics and denying even the slightest of what is due to a perceived ‘rival’ is rampant in higher education. The theses and dissertations of the ‘favourites’ are sent to the countries mentioned above, where they are processed without a fuss. This privilege, however, is not available to the ‘rival’ scholar.
Let me be specific here. A ‘perceived rival’ is a figure that is believed to have the potential and capability of replacing an incumbent from his privileged position, such as chairperson or head of department. In most academic departments of universities, there is only one person with the title of professor. The professor is ex officio head of the department too. Thus the professor usually does his best to stall any impending aspirant for the position of a professor until the former is well within the sight of his pension.
Higher education is not for everyone; it is a privilege of the intellectual elite and should be treated like that. It is not like school education that is the fundamental right of every citizen.
In order to consolidate his position in the department, the incumbent does his best to resist any change. The maintenance of the status quo is an accepted policy. From among the ‘rivals’, if someone wants to pursue higher education — PhD, for example — his aspiration is thwarted through the selection of examiners known for their tough and uncompromising standards from top universities.
In principle, the legitimacy of such a practice cannot be questioned. But the intentions are mala fide. Many bright young scholars decide to abandon academia because of such pernicious practices.
An impartial review by senior academics from the world’s top universities may help us to rectify this shambolic situation. It will incur expenditure but it will be for the better.
Pakistani universities should be encouraged to concentrate on invigorating undergraduate programmes offered at various universities. Rigorous undergraduate programmes would give us a good marketable human resource, which at the moment is in short supply. Capable youngsters opt to head overseas in pursuit of greener pastures and tend to stay there. The local conditions and resources are not adequate for those wishing to pursue M.Phils and PhDs. Library facilities and supervisory personnel, in particular, are rarely of the required standard.
I suggest the National University of Singapore should be taken as a model. I have found it as the best institution to train researchers.
An overwhelming majority of Masters and even PhD degree holders are wanting in basic analytical and communication skills. And, equally worrying is the lack of political will and foresight among those entrusted with the task of making decisions. They are so enamoured with the quantity of students that the word ‘quality’ has vanished from their vocabulary.
The proliferation of universities without proper future planning will only trivialise university education. It shall be worthwhile to set up centres of excellence with financial, administrative and academic autonomy across the country. These centres of learning must be rigourous and subsidised by the government. The best possible teachers must be hired, and to attract them to the academic profession, it should be ensured that they are well paid.
It must be borne in mind that higher education is not for everyone; it is a privilege of the intellectual elite and should be treated like that. It is not like school education that is the fundamental right of every citizen.
To ensure good quality basic education, the school system must be drastically reformed, especially the public sector schools. That may be a viable source of bridging the socio-economic differences, which is a fundamental problem in contemporary Pakistan.
One reason for the deleterious situation in our universities is the poor foundations on which our students have to build. They manage to pass their exams through rote learning, and come to colleges and universities without grounding in the basics. With such a body of students, expecting the universities to provide valuable instruction and to be useful sites of knowledge-production is an optimism which is misplaced if not completely misleading.

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