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A call for commission on higher education
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Jan, 2008: The undergraduate education, which is mostly provided at colleges, is one of the
most neglected sectors of higher education in Pakistan. There has to be a
holistic approach to education. In all the policy planning so far, the thrust of
all initiatives has been directed towards the universities, and in that,
primarily public universities to the neglect of colleges. |
Public universities are heavily, if not entirely, dependent on public colleges for their intake of
students. They are the weakest link in the whole chain of education in Pakistan.
In all initiatives and planning, these colleges have been ignored. Their
infrastructure is in poor condition and equipment and libraries almost
non-existent. Most of the college faculty has little, or no training and only a
local Masters degree, no incentives for improving their qualification, and no
facilities for research. Relying on outdated textbooks and learning by rote,
they produce students who are ill prepared for university.
Pakistani
colleges produce students who are ill prepared for university education. Even
after graduation from universities, these students remain in a considerably
disadvantaged position. An effective reform of the higher education system in
Pakistan requires a down-up approach; without the improvement of colleges, it
will be very difficult to improve the quality of university graduates. The
international norms of college education are not being met by the intermediary
nature of the Pakistani colleges. The Steering Committee on Higher Education
(SCHE, 2002) recommended upgrading college degree education into four-year
colleges in order to increase the quality of bachelor degrees.
At
present, college education in Pakistan suffers from severe issues of dual
control, financial management, quality, and methods of teaching. The
administrative and financial decisions are often blocked in a gridlock between
the district governments on one hand and the provincial education departments on
the other. While the Ministry of Education is focused on elementary and high
school education, and the Higher Education Commission (HEC) on university and
post-doctoral research, college education has acquired orphan status in
Pakistan. According to the HEC, colleges are also deprived financially with per
capita spending on students that was only one-sixth of university spending in
2002. While funding for public universities has increased several-fold, colleges
have been left behind. Most of the governmental funding for higher education
goes to universities, neglecting the colleges.
During 2001-2004, the
funds that the HEC allocated to over 600 colleges totaled Rs480 million compared
to the Rs2,525 million for about 30 universities. While the standard of
education in public colleges and universities has markedly declined up until
recently, the growth in the private sector in higher education during the last
20 years has been most dramatic, and in fact has saved the education system in
Pakistan from catastrophe. At present about 25 per cent of enrollment in higher
education is in private colleges/universities, and this number is expected to
grow to about 40 per cent over the next 10 years.
The major causes of the
low standard of college education in Pakistan have been identified as (i) lack
of college autonomy, vision and poor administration, (ii) lack of sufficient
funds and facilities, (iii) outdated curricula, (iv) inadequate basic education,
(v) outdated methods of teaching, learning, and faculty development, (vi) lack
of assessment and quality improvement mechanisms, and (vii) lack of learning
techniques that require and inspire critical and creative
thinking.
Colleges lack the capacity to design curricula. Instead, this
responsibility lies with the universities with which the colleges are
affiliated. This lacking impacts both the efficiency and productivity of
faculty, curricula and students. The curriculum of each public university lacks
vision, and it doesn't challenge students at all. There is no national body that
oversees and provides guidance and resources. Lack of sufficient funds to
colleges has resulted in underpaid teachers; and unavailability of modern tools,
access to computers, Internet, latest publications, and properly equipped
libraries and laboratories. Colleges in Pakistan receive only a very modest
percentage of funding from the government compared to the funding distributed to
universities. The small amount of funds to colleges negatively impacts both the
quality of education and its accessibility to students from economically
disadvantaged families.
The curricula of both basic-level education and
colleges are outdated and offer a very limited knowledge base. Especially in
colleges, the subject matter of most disciplines continues to be outdated and
irrelevant, allowing no room for changes in the context of education inclusive
the content or improvement of inefficient teaching methods. Attempts at adding
new concepts and information have been inconsistent, consequently, students lack
clarity of thought and the ability to relate to the national or local context.
The lecture/theoretical learning method dominates the classroom, with no
exposure to other pedagogical methods. The combination of authoritarian
attitudes and poor language skills discourages questioning and discussion. The
assessment system rewards a regurgitating of textbook content, and the teacher
is unable to transcend his/her role of facilitating student learning and
understanding. It has been observed that students who enter the college level
have poor language and communication skills. College students are not prepared
to articulate either in Urdu or in English in a satisfactory manner. Neither do
the college training and curricula offer methods for development of clear and
effective communication skills. College teachers have inadequate and limited
exposure to the fields in which they are teaching. Given the poor pay scales,
time-based promotion and absence of incentives, they don't develop their
abilities. Lack of programmes that enhance learning by practice and the lack of
teacher motivation discourage the introduction of new methods, active
discussion, and critical thinking and learning processes. Quality control,
assessment and quality improvement mechanisms are by and large not in place. If
they are present, they are not being upgraded regularly or in an institutional
manner, only on an ad hoc basis. The current annualised calendar system instead
of the semester system further impedes improvement.
College graduates in
Pakistan lack the motivation to think critically, and reflective responses are
not encouraged. The current education system does not provide a foundation to
explore, analyze and be critical about the situations and be creative about
solutions. The system is geared to automatic memorising without challenging the
views being taught. In addition, theoretical learning is not translated to
practical training. Internship opportunities are non-existent, and students are
not being prepared for the "real world" practice experience. Practical training
during the study period would give incentives to students to explore new ideas
and innovative methods to help industry, and the public and private
sectors.
In Pakistan, the emphasis of the reforms has been on basic
education, and during the last five years, on the universities. Little
attention, however, has been paid to undergraduate degree/college education. The
main recommendations require policy changes that prioritise the quality of
educational services offered at all levels in Pakistan, especially at colleges.
Pakistan should establish, by a president's or prime minister's executive order,
a Commission on Undergraduate Education (CUE). Like the HEC, the CUE should be
autonomous from the Ministry of Education, with its own budget and its own
independent board of advisors. The CUE should set up a nation-wide policy and
guidelines and define the aim of undergraduate education in Pakistan; increase
the capacity of colleges into autonomous institutions; establish minimum
national standards for college education; improve academic/administrative
college leadership based on a national competition and merits; and train college
administrators on accountability and transparency. Concerning faculty, raise the
qualification bar for college teachers; annual training workshops for the
faculty; offer better incentives to college teachers (i.e., increase in salary);
encourage the reappointment of meritorious faculty in the public sector; conduct
refresher courses for teachers every two years; and make appointments on the
basis of requirements and not individuals.
The Commission should make the
curriculum broad-based; establish a core curriculum consisting of mathematics,
English, Urdu, communication, history of world civilisation and world culture;
include research and one-two semesters of internship programmes; asses all
textbooks and revise them every three years; and update curricula yearly but no
more than every three years to meet the future needs, such as teaching of
molecular biology, neuroscience, genetics and preventive medicine at medial
schools.
The undergraduate curricula should be based/categorised on a
semester not an annual system. Funding from government should be increased
several-fold and the funding of these colleges should be based not only on the
number but also the quality of graduates and the academic programmes.
The
government should invest in and upgrade libraries, especially implementing free
and easy access to Internet, and providing basic student resources for research.
Improvement in teaching should include updating college curricula; introducing
internship programmes; introduction of new methods of teaching; encouraging
reason-based learning and critical and creative thinking; community financial
plans as grants and loans on a needs basis; and government could provide grants
to colleges to expand their scholarship programmes. Government must ensure that
every student who has the merit and wishes to pursue higher education, receives
sufficient financial aid for his/her education. The private-public partnerships
should increase the capacities of existing public colleges and the establishment
of new institutions should be promoted.
Motivation of alumni to organise
themselves at home and abroad to contribute to their alma mater is also
significant not only as a source of funding but their involvement in governance
of the institution and improving the quality, legacy and reputation of public
institutions.
While government's primary responsibility is to public
institutions, it must also encourage, promote and appropriately support private
colleges/universities. Government should adopt a public policy that encourages
the development of a vital and private sector of higher education with freedom
to develop curriculum and educational programmes according to their best
judgment, and are only held responsible for the quality of their results. It
should provide land on lease for the establishment of colleges/universities on
the condition that infrastructure is established within a 10 years
period.
Government should provide to the needy students attending a
private college/university the same financial aid as in a corresponding public
institution conditional to the host private college/university cover the
remaining required financial assistance. It must provide access to the Foreign
Visiting Faculty Programme, whereby the host private college/university covers
50 per cent of the salary/expenses of the foreign scholar and accept proposals
from scholars from private sector institutions for funding on merit with a
condition that the host institution provides matching funds. Government should
provide unconditional access to digital library and to international bandwidth
for Internet access to faculty and students from private sector
colleges/universities. It should provide annual grants to private sector
colleges/universities based on per enrolled student but 15 per cent of the
amount awarded per public college/university.
By Rudina Xhaferri and Khalid Iqbal (Dawn)
The writers work for the
Promotion of Education in Pakistan Foundation, Inc., USA
info@pepfoundation.org
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| Education News | | Updated: 24 May, 2012 |
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