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# Major structural issues in Pakistan’s higher education system

The major structural issues in higher education system of Pakistan are leading to poor governance of the educational institutions and questionable quality of education

Zeeshan Khan

January 3, 2019

Prime Minister Imran Khan has formally initiated the conversion of the PM House into the Islamabad National University. The announcement was made during a seminar titled “Emerging Challenges and Opportunities for Pakistan.” PM Khan, during his speech at the inauguration ceremony, said that the purpose of establishing a University or Centre of Excellence (COE) at the PM House was to reduce the gap between the government and public.

The premier stressed the importance of “quality education” for a nation’s “progress and development”, adding that the overall level of education will be improved during his term.

It’s right that purpose of establishing a university in the PM House is to signal the need for education and human development if Pakistan is to develop and progress as a nation. There are about 188 universities in Pakistan but the standard of higher education is awful. House of Wisdom was also mentioned by Imran Khan but a glance must also be cast on private sector of education which only distributes degrees without any wisdom.

The major structural issues in higher education system of Pakistan are leading to poor governance of the educational institutions and questionable quality of education. Governance differences are present both in public and private sector universities. It is very rare to find a member on the board being appointed because they possess knowledge of how universities need to perform or they have outstanding academic contribution.

> The HEC has acted like any other bureaucracy in the country where policies are made on the basis of a reaction to the problem rather than to actually finding the cause of the problem

According to World Bank Report (2000) Pakistan has a high level of accountability but it is of negative kind. The board of governors has a low degree of autonomy.

Private sector universities in Pakistan have grown by a large number in the last two decades. However, at one end, the growth of such institutions provides more variety to students; there are some universities with questionable status.

Quality Assurance for the academia as well as the government and policymakers is essential to guarantee outcomes for the managing of higher education institutions (HEIs).Inspection and accountability are externally monitored, whereas teachers, a variety of programs etc derive quality internally in institutions.

The Higher Education Commission (HEC) has acted like any other bureaucracy in the country where policies are made on the basis of a reaction to the problem rather than to actually finding the cause of the problem. Higher education institutions are still in confusion. Unfortunately, a coherent policy for higher education in the country has not been formulated at the national level. The board of governors of universities seems unaware of these structural issues of universities. This leads to universities being unable to cope with the challenges. These challenges include the evolution of new markets and the creation of new professions and vocations. There is a need for decentralisation in terms of decision making.

Higher Education in Pakistan is not at par with international standards leaving a dearth of qualified graduates who can help with the rebuilding of the higher education institutions. Even competitive exams like CSS results have further exposed the scenario.

There is a need for the public sector’s boards to be remodeled to cope with the changes and to be able to provide good governance.

There is a need to improve the quality of faculty and the programs being offered.

There is no doubt in accepting the fact that education brings about a change in the social, political and cultural scenario of the country; though the change remains slow but it does have an impact on the society at large. It does bring about improvements in the organizational problem-solving through the use of design, structural paraphernalia, globalized need and quality based systems. Indeed, Pakistan is suffering not only from economic problem but there’s a mild diversity in case of education. Lack of education is the main reason behind the backwardness of Pakistan. Poverty has led many homes to discourage their children from going to school. Educational infrastructure, ghost schools, culture of absenteeism, multiplicity of educational system, gender disparity, lack of technologies, bad governance and poorly-trained teaching staff are the major reasons behind the education crisis. Lack of education is one problem that needs to be solved as only it can lead to a brighter future of Pakistan.

Education’s condition is despicable throughout the country as its literacy rate is 58% with huge gender disparity. 43% literacy rate is noticed in families; meanwhile less than 3% families know how to read in Federaaly Adminstrated Tribal areas (FATA). Nearly 5.1 million children have been deprived of the basic right of education in Pakistan. Education is the only cure of the instability in the state and can bring revolution through evolution as well as eradicate social evils.

The country’s education system needs to be revamped; the allocation of funds for education in the budget is very low as it never goes beyond 1.5 to 2.0 percent of the total GDP. There is a need to increase it around 7%. Teachers should be offered more financial benefits by increasing their pays. Government should strictly check all private educational institutions for keeping a balance of standards and level of practices. Workshops must be arranged for teachers as a continuous feature for learning.

Cutting long story short, education serves as the backbone for the development of nations. The countries with the effective impressive need oriented, saleable and effective system of education come out to be the leaders of the world, both socially and economically. It is only education which can turn a burden of population into productive human resource. Pakistan’s current state demands that the allocations for education be doubled to meet the challenges of EFI, gender disparity and provision of teachers in the work places earlier than 2018 as per stipulated qualifications. Millennium Development Goals are yet to be realized latest by 2015.We have to revisit our priorities to keep the country on the track of progress.

The writer is a doctor, writer, freelance journalist and activist. He tweets at @DrZeeshanKhanA1

Published in Daily Times, January 3rd 2019.

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