February 5, 2006

DURING the last three and half years the Higher Education Commission (HEC) has been trying to restructure Pakistan’s higher education system. In doing so, it has been the subject of considerable criticism from various stakeholders.

Perhaps, an assessment of the reforms may help judge whether we are moving forward and if so in the right direction.

Before one does that, it needs to be pointed out that the profile of the typical learner is changing. Online learning has come of age to a great extent and there are many students who are using this option. Second, the percentage of learners who are adult, female, and/or minorities is increasing. Third, students are increasingly shopping around for courses and programmes that meet their time schedules and financial or other circumstances.

With reference to the issue of female enrolment rising, the data showed a considerable increase. Here, one would have to say that the country cannot afford to educate women if they are not willing to contribute towards economic development. People will argue that if you educate a woman you educate a nation. In reality you do not need a doctorate to raise a family or to become a better home-maker.

Perhaps the reference to educating a women can also mean to include those who are wise and can make informed decisions, who have knowledge of preventative health issues, can nurture values in their family and can be a catalyst for change in the home, especially in terms of educating their own children.

These competencies can be achieved effectively after completing 12 years of education if done properly. Investment in higher education should not cater to individual benefit but rather towards achieving benefit for the country as a whole. Generally speaking, a lot of women may like to participate actively but are prevented from doing that by family commitments and sometimes social pressures. From personal observation it is seen that many women want to resume their professional life after an interval of a few years, normally by the time they have settled in their marital life and/or the children are going to school.

Institutions now need to closely examine and develop women-friendly policies to keep them in the active workforce contributing to the economy. This means having flexible and part-time work opportunities with short bridging courses, which could compensate for the gap in knowledge and skills. This will facilitate the re-entry of those women back into the workforce who may have taken some time off.

As information technology expands so is the learner’s ability to access up-to-date knowledge and resources. Recent studies have shown that contrary to the belief of some people, Pakistani students have a positive approach towards study and acquisition of knowledge.

That this happens in an environment where teacher-centred learning is still the norm and assessment practices are traditional, means that the younger generation is coming of age and its exposure to various sources of knowledge and information (especially the Internet) is bring some positive change.

The change in the learner profile has serious implications for future measures especially with reference to preventing students from dropping out. Policy-makers need to make a paradigm shift towards a learner-centred model of education and teaching. This will require a major effort to move away from teaching programmes to those that focus on the learner and are not dependent on either location or time. Such programmes will have be tailored to students, something not found so far in our higher education institutions. A good example of this is holding student conventions, which the HEC has been doing from time to time.

These conventions offer students a chance to present and share their views with each other. Following a student convention in 2004 a group of 100 students were given the opportunity to visit China for a two-week trip as state guests. It was very discouraging to see that a number of institutions actually penalized their students who went on the trip by taking the argument that it caused absence from class.

Society is also now undergoing tremendous change. We are living in an era of increased competition in the job market. There are increasing number of people who want to both work and study at the same time. This requires a flexible curriculum and study programme, again something found lacking in most Pakistan institutions of higher education. Most degree programmes are rigid.

The only exception to the rigidity is Virtual University and some courses offered by the Allama Iqbal Open University. Students are not given any representation in any of the curriculum committees which probably explains why the curriculum is often so inflexible. Having greater flexibility would however increase enrolment in higher education.

Gone are the days when teacher led students to acquire knowledge. Now is the age of adopting active learning strategies. This implies that the faculty need to be trained and should also be competent in the use of technology which may be used to impart education.

Internationally the physical infrastructure such as lecture halls are now being replaced by libraries and learning resources. The digital library access programme of the HEC has proved to be a success given that most libraries do not have hours of operation helpful for students. Besides, it allows students on holiday or working from home to access the information that they need. In any case, though, there is a strong case for keeping libraries open till late in the night, if not for 24 hours.

Moving on to policy and one can see that there exist no policies and guidelines on issues such as assessment or even plagiarism in most public and private-sector institutions. Even if policies on assessment are there, they are vague and not comprehensive, especially from the students’ point of view. For instance, in many cases students are not given a fair chance to appeal if they feel they have been not properly assessed.

The purpose of higher education reform is to provide students access to quality education and that selection of such students be done merit. This means that even those with physical or other disabling handicaps be given an equal chance and access to higher education. But again this is not found in most higher education institutions, save maybe Aga Khan University which provides accessibility to those in wheelchairs. Since the HEC is now the funding body it should consider making a quote for special students and to require that institutions making new buildings provide wheelchair access.

As for plagiarism it is not uncommon among faculty and students. A number of academics in Pakistan are actually known for reproducing and recycling at will the same material over and over again but of course under different titles. Yet in the absence of any policy, these people get away without having to face the consequences of their blatant dishonesty.

All these issues need to be addressed if reform in higher education is to have any meaningful and lasting impact.

The writer has been previously associated with the Higher Education Commission. Email: zsiddiqui@meddent.uwa.edu.au

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