THIS is apropos your editorial ‘Archaic education’ (Sept 10) laying stress on university management for self-improvement so that students who enter the real world are not taken aback by the wide gap between what they have been taught and what is required in practical life. There is indeed an urgent need to update university courses. Ideally, a university education should equip a person with a set of marketable professional skills that can be applied in the real world. Yet in certain higher institutions of the country the syllabuses have not been updated and the students are being deprived of the modern concepts and technology.

We are no doubt living in an era where nothing prevails but perfection, for which the management and the faculty together will have to refurbish the chapters of each subject from the scratch. Earlier there was ample scope for compromise over the outdated and archaic topics if existing in textbooks. Today information technology has revealed every element and nothing can remain overlooked from the media.

There is no denying the fact that since the formation of the HEC more than a decade ago, a network of universities and of higher educational institutions, mostly in the private sector, has been spread in the country.

Admittedly , most of these universities have built infrastructure befitting the concept of modern universities, and the erudite faculty and staff are being inducted for running the university efficiently.

The private sector is very keen about establishing and promoting its alma mater in academics, as well as in the open market. Internship programmes are vey enthusiastically pursued in these universities for giving an orientation to young students to work in their respective fields.

Lest we forget, university education is imparted to the youth who are sharp in intellect and temperament. University education aims at giving critical learning and critical thinking to such vibrant minds.

To attain a master’s degree, courses are designed from the earliest knowledge of that subject till present-day literature. At the highest level, it is essential to acquaint students with the considerable knowledge of each component of that subject, whether it is very ancient. This, of course, is the duty of the university curriculum committee to allocate minimum periods to unimportant topics. University syllabus should be considered in a broader perspective.

M. SALEEM ANSARI Karachi