Research cited as core value in curriculum

HEC stresses the need to establish research culture in curriculums, for which they say relevant funding is required.

ISLAMABAD: The Higher Education Commission (HEC) has stressed the need to establish a research culture in curriculums, for which they say relevant funding is required. Seven per cent of the total GDP was allocated for education, which has now been reduced to five per cent, out of which a meager 0.3 per cent has been allocated for higher education.

Every year 20-22 degrees are revised at the National Curriculum Revised Committee meetings. This year the HEC feels that local universities lack a research culture, which needs to be blended into the education system. Though research methodology and computer courses are made compulsory, the costs of labs and even the chemicals used however are high.

By comparison one university in Singapore gets the same amount of funds allocated for 72 universities across Pakistan. “The government needs to see education as an investment and not as an expenditure,” said Professor Dr Altaf Ali G Shaikh, member of the curriculum wing, HEC.

“If funds are not increased then within a few years our progress will come to a halt.  The government has promised to allocate funds, but the amount they will give this year and even in the next year might not tilt the graph upwards because it will be difficult to accommodate the ever increasing population, with the same amount of money,” added Shaikh.

HEC usually monitors the emerging trends on subjects that include agriculture, IT and the business administration, but currently the organisation feels that it needs to focus on the engineering curriculum which would require costly research tools, and also train students to work in fields related to the country’s imports and exports.

The organisation also illustrated concerns over the lack of facilities, labs, campuses and faculty members. “What we get is not enough. The government needs to prioritise,” said Ayesha Ikram Spokesperson of HEC.

“If there is an MBBS degree, then more community based teaching is involved to cope with time and associated changes. Courses that possess a concrete market value need to be introduced to ensure the eventual survival of the students,” remarked Shaikh.

Another issue that the HEC faces is the number of enrolled university students; currently 5 per cent of the youth in the 17-23 year old category have access to education and 95 per cent are still outside universities. The percentage of access will reduce with the ever-increasing population. In the past eight years the percentage has risen from two per cent to five per cent and HEC aspires to reach a target of 15 per cent by the year 2030.

“We are at a stage where we know that we possess a lot of potential and even the resources to some extent. However, we do not have the funds to take a step forward and progress as a nation,” Shaikh remarked.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 13^th, 2010.