The writer is associate professor in the departments of Biomedical Engineering and Medicine at Boston University
You are taking over the leadership of the Higher Education Commission (HEC) at a very complex time. Yet, I believe this is also a time of great opportunity. While the general perception of the institution you are now heading is probably at an all-time low and the noise and clatter of provincial HECs is at an all-time high. The resources available are dwindling and the negative sentiment among the public is aplenty. But at the same time, the demand for quality higher education has never been higher. In a society where conspiracy theories and counter-conspiracy theories rule the day, the need for a rational discourse and a civilised discussion has never been greater. Above all, you have a unique opportunity to shape the future, to bend the arc of history in a positive direction and to change the status quo in inquiry, research and scholarship in the country.
I realise that you have a lot on your plate that you want to do in your tenure and hence, I will not propose grand plans that require funds that are just not there or resources that will add to the mountain of debt. Instead, I believe there are three things that you can do without breaking the bank that may change the course our higher education is currently on.
First, have a clear vision of what the HEC is, but perhaps have a clearer vision of what the HEC is not. The HEC should not be in the business of verifying degrees of dubious politicians and spending its precious resources. The goals of the HEC should be loftier than getting stuck in the political quagmires of deception and fraud. This should be left to individual universities and various boards of education. The HEC should be about research, inquiry and strengthening of the higher education system in the country and not about whether so-and-so appeared in the exam himself or had his cronies take it for him. Have high expectations of the institutions that make up our higher education sector, but do so by giving more autonomy to the universities, by letting them make their own decisions about their future, about who they can hire and who they should promote. Get the HEC out of the petty day-to-day politics that cripples our institutions.
Second, build bridges and break barriers. Our national problems are inherently complex and should not be the domain of a single discipline. Our problems in health, for example, require input not only from experts in medicine and public health, but also engineering, economics and the social sciences. It is one thing to pay lip service to interdisciplinary work, but quite another to embrace ways where synergy and collaboration is fostered and sustained. Interdisciplinary work should never be at the expense of rigor but integrated, synergistic solutions are desperately needed in a society that is battling high-impact existential challenges. Breaking barriers and silos in a society that is inherently tribal will not be easy but I doubt if you took this job because it was going to be easy.
Finally, a reminder. The institution is called the Higher Education Commission, not commission for science or commission for patents and new technology. A robust higher education system and perhaps more importantly, a vibrant and dynamic society, needs quality research and higher education in social sciences and humanities just as it needs to focus on science and technology. The country exists because of its people and the human fabric of the society, in its past, present and the future, needs to be understood in detail. The scholarship in this arena needs to be encouraged and celebrated, just as we celebrate a new invention.
At this juncture of our history, higher education can make the difference between a Pakistan that is worse off than it has ever been, or a Pakistan that lives to its fullest potential.
I wish you the very best of good fortune in all your worthy endeavours.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 22nd, 2014.
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The PCST ( Pakistan Commission for Science and Technology) publishes annually a list of the most productive scientists in Pakistan. As a token of the Federal Government thereof, the 'best of the best' are bestowed with a " RPA" ( Research Productivity Award/Allowance) for their excellence in their fields of research. Out of a total of more than 1000 candidates the top 321 i.e. " creme de la creme" secured a RPA. The total # of publications were in excess of a thousand but the number of publications of an applied genre added to a dismal single digit '2'. That truly is shocking!! The HEC should adumbrate an emphasis on applied research rather than being perpetually in quest of numbers. Not that basic research is to be denigrated or discriminated against but we are an indigent nation and can ill afford to remain bereft of applied research. Now that the summer is on us, one can feel the heat with outages of prolonged duration. Who is to mend this exponentially declining curve? It has to be the bright minds working in research organizations and universities.The article above, constituting a letter to the Chairman, is well thought out. Lets see if the incumbent leadership can show us some light at the end of an interminably long tunnel. One does not expect much from the politicians --they should be left to stew in their own juice, or be allowed to do what they are good at like auctioning. Going 3G and 4G on the cell phone industry for US$1.20 bln, will not mitigate, the day to day horrors which most of us have to endure.God Bless IRP!!
This is great advice -- hope they listen!
All three points raised by author are very sensible. I would like to add one more: twin roles of a highier education regulatory body, and a reserach grant agency should not be gathered in a single organisation. Latter is a huge overload over HEC's actual job. All over the world institutions like science foundations, national science academies, research councils etc fund the basic research and specialised institutions like those related to health, defence, energy etc take care of the funding for their relevant areas.
HEC serves to a particular region only. Hand over HEC to provinces, Now
I pray May Allah Grant HEC Chairman wisdom, strength and persistence to come up to the hallmark of entrusted duties.
I found these articles always very valuable and positive.