Speaking from experience: To improve standards, education must be decentralised, says Dr Husain

IBA dean celebrates 60 years of the institute at a press briefing at KPC.

KARACHI: A science teacher from Loralai was transferred to Quetta, where there are already eight teachers for 30 students. A teacher from Loralai is also paid the same amount as a teacher in Quetta despite vast differences in circumstances and hardships in teaching.

These are some examples of mismanagement in the education sector that Institute of Business Administration dean Dr Ishrat Husain feels can be overcome if education is decentralised. He was speaking at a briefing at Karachi Press Club to mark the 60-year celebrations of the institute's services to the nation.

Forming district education boards is the solution, suggested Dr Husain. "Each district will be able to plan their needs of education, salaries and teachers accordingly," he said.

He believed that students cannot be educated properly in the current system. If the Sindh government wants to bring down the number of children out of school, it should depoliticise and decentralise the education system, he suggested.

The dean also emphasised the five points that can bring a change in the system. "IBA has focused on some key issues, which is why we are the best business school of the country according to the recent rankings," he said proudly.

One of them is maintaining transparency and enrolling students purely on merit, he said. Secondly, IBA caters to students of all classes, be it the well-to-do or the poor as its financial aid programme helps over 550 deserving students, he added.

Their third secret to success is the financial viability model they have in place. Only 15 per cent of IBA's finances come from the government grant, he said, adding that 10 per cent come from an endowment fund and the remaining 75 per cent come from internally generated finances. He assured, however, that this system is fixed and the revenue stream will not change even if he is no longer the dean.

Their recruitment criterion for teachers is their fourth reason for success. "We hire teachers purely on merit and clear from nepotism," he said. "Whatever happens in the city, a strike or clashes, IBA's papers or classes are never cancelled or postponed," he said, listing his fifth point.

Dr Hussain shared that they are not only working for higher education but are also working on community colleges to promote college education, which he felt has the worst status in the province. "Colleges, such as Adamjee and SM College, which I use to look at with pride when I was a college student, are empty today," he said.

The dean is particularly proud of their recent National Talent Hunt Programme, which empowers and grooms students from rural areas and gives them the opportunity to study at IBA, which also sponsors their studies. The administration helps the students get admission and then pays for their tuition fee, monthly stipend, etc, he explained.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 30^th, 2015.