Letter to the new HEC chairperson
I will not propose grand plans that require funds, instead, there are 3 things you can do without breaking the bank.
The writer is associate professor in the departments of Biomedical Engineering and Medicine at Boston University
Dear Dr Ahmed,
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.
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.