Assessing quality in higher education: ‘Forget government, raise your own funds’

Educationists address higher education issues at PU conference.


Express December 07, 2010

LAHORE: Universities should think of innovative enterprises with which to raise funds, since the money needed to improve standards is not coming from the government, said Rukhsana Zuberi, chairwoman of the Pakistan Engineering Council (PEC), on Monday.

Speaking at the 3rd International Conference on Assessing Quality in Higher Education at the Punjab University (PU) Law College Auditorium, she said that it was the government’s job to improve higher education, but that was unlikely to happen in the current economic climate. “Universities should play the role of entrepreneurs to generate funds,” she said.

Zuberi, who is also a former senator, commended the organisers of the conference for staging the event amidst the many problems facing Pakistan, like natural disasters, inflation and unemployment. She said the PEC had adopted the recommendations of the previous two conferences. She offered her full support to Prof Mujahid Kamran, PU vice chancellor, for launching energy conservation projects at the university.

Prof Abdul Raouf, chairman of the Higher Education Commission’s (HEC) National Quality Assurance Committee, said Pakistan did not have enough resources to meet the budget requirements of the education sector. But he said improving academic quality was essential for the country’s survival. Only graduates with good educations would get attractive jobs, he said.

He said that for the last few years, the HEC had focused on increasing the number of Pakistani universities and improving the quality of faculty and infrastructure. “In the past there was no culture of self-assessment and improvement. But now some of our varsities are asking the HEC to introduce quality management systems,” he said. Addressing the conference on behalf of the vice chancellors of the four organising universities, Prof Kamran said that a lack of qualified teachers was holding Pakistani universities back.

Only 22 per cent of the faculty of Pakistani universities consists of PhDs, though the PU average is slightly better at 33 per cent, he said. “Without faculty development, we cannot expect any qualitative improvement at any level,” he said.

The vice chancellor also said that not enough money was being spent on education and blamed this on governments past and present. “Currently only two per cent of GDP is being allocated to education and even that is not fully utilised. In such a situation, what quality can we have from our academic institutions?”

Prof Kamran said that despite the challenges, Pakistan was a nuclear power, which showed that the people of this country had talent. “With proper coaching and guidance Pakistani students can excel in any field,” he added. Prof Niaz Ahmad, rector of the National Textile University, Faisalabad, Prof Hassan Sohaib Murad, rector of the University of Management and Technology, and Prof Aamir Ijaz, director of the Institute of Quality and Technology Management, also addressed the audience.

Kamran opens Kamran Lab

The vice chancellor inaugurated the Kamran Computer Lab at the Department of Gender Studies here on Monday. The lab includes 35 computers and was set up with financial assistance from Prof Kamran, said Rana Malik, a department official. She said the computers would help both students and teachers. The vice chancellor also approved a project for the establishment of a research cell at the department. Prof Dr Mughees-ud-Din Sheikh, dean of the Faculty of Behavioural and Social Sciences, professors Muhammad Hafeez and Samar Fatima, and students were also present on the occasion.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 7th, 2010.

COMMENTS

Replying to X

Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.

For more information, please see our Comments FAQ