KARACHI, Nov 16: High cost reforms in higher education are being carried out without involving the stakeholders - the students, statutory bodies of varsities and the elected teachers’ bodies.

These views were expressed by participants at a panel discussion on ‘Foreign Faculty Hiring Programme of Higher Education Commission,’ organized by the United Teachers Forum at the Karachi University Staff Club on Saturday evening.

The participants alleged that hefty funds meant for research and teaching were being spent without even the approval of the National Assembly.

They deplored the reckless commercialization and corporatization of varsities, designed by the appointed reformers, which they apprehended, would transform the education institutes into markets, making higher education unaffordable for most of the students.

Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists President Ahfazur Rehman, questioning the need to hire foreign faculty, asked “why our own faculty is not being considered useful.”

He asked why Rs3.2 billion were being spent on a programme which had ‘vague and undefined’ objectives.

Karachi University Teachers Society President Dr Sohail Bokhari argued that foreign faculty hiring was neither a new concept, nor it was harmful.

He said the present system of hiring of regular faculty was based on open merit, and hiring of meritorious individuals from abroad should be welcomed.

“We need foreign faculty to interact with and learn from academia of the world,” he said, adding that fresh social science teachers could benefit a lot from foreign experts.—PPI