Revolution in education needed

Letter February 06, 2016
Higher education needs more than just reform. It requires a revolution

ISLAMABAD: Private education in the country, has of late, become a business where the owners are only concerned about profit maximisation, with the quality of education that is imparted being compromised. It is claimed that inviting private investment and foreign universities to Pakistan would facilitate an improvement in education, but I believe that this would benefit only a minority of students. These arguments are indicative of the manner in which flawed assumptions can lead people to ignore the experiences of the countries that dominate higher education globally. The establishment of big universities with state-of-the-art facilities may not serve the purpose of educating and training every one of the multitude of our youth. However, big universities do raise the bar by creating healthy competition and they have beneficial spillover effects. They can lead to the establishment of enterprises, which thrive on the human resources of a given area and potentially drive urban growth. The Stanford academia benefited Silicon Valley, while Boston has benefited from Harvard and MIT.

Private universities in Pakistan currently have no power to affiliate colleges. This privilege lies entirely in the hands of public-sector universities. The control of these universities, in turn, lies in the hands of the Higher Education Commission (HEC). If we have to accommodate our rising need for higher education, granting autonomy to private institutions, liberalising laws for foreign entrants and decentralisation are a necessity. The World Economic Forum, in its latest report The Future of Jobs, stated that 65 per cent of primary schoolchildren will end up working in completely new jobs that do not yet exist. An evolving dynamic course structure should be framed through a symbiotic association with both private and foreign partners if Pakistan has to keep pace with the world of nanotechnology, biotechnology, robotics and space research. Research has to form an essential part of our curriculum and be linked with the industry’s requirements. With half the population falling below the age of 30, there is no better time to look at and revive the higher education sector than now. Higher education needs more than just reform. It requires a revolution.

Engr Viqarul Haq

Published in The Express Tribune, February 7th, 2016.

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