September 02, 2007

There is much talk about changing the Bachelors degree to a four-year one. In this article, M. Fida and Imdad U. Mohammadzai propose a model for B.Sc. in chemistry which they hope the Higher Education Commission can use

Higher Education is undergoing a major transformation in the world in general and in Pakistan in particular. In this regard, the Higher Education Commission (HEC) has taken a number of steps which includes among others a switch from the current two-year bachelor’s degree to a more comprehensive and internationally acceptable four-year bachelor’s degree programme. A proposed model for this switch has been sent to all the universities in the country which is being debated and discussed. We have come to know that the on-going discussion has resulted in confusion and frustration in the academia causing a delay in the proposed reforms. In this article, we propose a model for a four-year bachelor’s degree in chemistry and hope that it will provide a template for a more fruitful discussion.

In Pakistan, it is a good time to put the educational system on the right track. The education system must aim to change the general mindset, prepare students to accept new challenges and find out solutions to emerging problems. Science in particular has opened up possibilities for a better life for all. Teachers and scientists have to shoulder big responsibilities i.e. as academic managers they need to actively participate, make a road map, design curricula and workout mechanism on how to modernise education system that considers global issues while solving local problems. To tackle these tasks new strategies are to be adopted in order to develop an environment on the university campuses that encourages critical thinking and questioning.

Of serious concern is how to transform university education to that of international level and to prepare students to accept life challenges with a broader outlook and more useful skills. Because of the absence of a university culture in Pakistan, our universities have never been the seats of learning in the real sense. The ground reality is that out of more than 100 public universities in the country, none is included in the top 500 universities of the world.

One of HEC’s tasks is to improve and promote the quality of higher education through revamping and revising the curricula and reforming the entire university education system. Of crucial importance is the development of a broad based curriculum that inculcates the instincts of free thinking, enquiry and reasoning in students as well as to bring them at par with international standards. A step in this direction as mentioned above, is switching from the present two-year bachelor’s degree programme to a four-year one. In this regard, the National Curriculum Revision Committee (NCRC) has revised curricula for several disciplines including chemistry which provides guidelines for universities. However, after reading the booklet on curriculum for B.Sc. in chemistry, several deficiencies are identified. We have tried in the proposed model to overcome these deficiencies.

In line with the HEC proposals, the Institute of Chemical Sciences (ICS), University of Peshawar, is also planning to start a 4-year B.S. programme in chemistry and work on curriculum development has already initiated. To discuss the HEC’s document for its implementation, the ICS arranged a 7-day workshop in July at the Baragali Summer Campus of the University of Peshawar. During this workshop, in addition to the HEC document, the existing four-year chemistry programmes of different universities were thoroughly discussed. Although the HEC booklet provides a guideline, it appears necessary to develop a comprehensive curriculum that includes several important topics missing in the HEC’s proposed scheme for chemistry or similar programmes run by other institutions in Pakistan. In this direction, a new scheme of curriculum was designed to be implemented in the ICS. The final version of the curriculum is spread over four years (8 semesters) of 144 credit hours taught-courses including 46.52% theory, 21.52% lab, 22.22% supportive courses and 4.16% of general courses.

The curriculum designed includes several topics that were not included either in the existing curricula of other universities or that of HEC. The proposed model has to go through different bodies of university for approval before it is adopted. The ICS is planning to admit students in the first batch from a pool of candidates, academically prepared to study at the university level through an entrance examination. Candidates achieving a certain minimum in F.Sc. (12 years of schooling or qualifications equivalent to A-level certificate) will be eligible to take the test for admission.

The four-year bachelor’s (first degree) programme with 16 years education offered by ICS will be equivalent to a four-year BS programme offered at international universities. The students admitted to this programme will be imparted education in basic theories supported by necessary laboratory practices in the majoring subject. Also students will get instruction in a set of supportive and general subjects that will enhance the level of information and skills. Students will be introduced to research methodology and will also carry out a research project in the final year.

In the first two semesters, the students will have to study in addition to his/her major chemistry, another subject (second subject-I and second subject-II) from a list of subjects such as physics, microbiology, geography, geology, statistics, environmental chemistry, electronics, chemical instrumentation, material science, genetic engineering, etc.

In addition to the major subject, it is important for students to acquire skills commensurate with sustainable development in Pakistani society. In this direction each student will take three subjects from a list including animal husbandry, poultry/dairy farming, anthropology, archeology, cottage industry, education, special education, curriculum design & delivery, science teaching, management sciences, psychology, economics, logic & myths, ethics & values, sociology, political science, international relations, comparative study of world religions, law & human rights, planetary science, environmental studies, popular science, history, history of world civilisations, history of science & technology, gender studies, strategic studies, home gardening, home economics, vocational training, modern languages, alternative medicine, physical education, music, performing arts, mass communication, venture capitalism, globalisation, etc. These subjects are specified as general subjects in the Table-1 and Table-2.

Spread over eight semesters, the credit hours distribution of every subject is given in Table-1. Regarding chemistry major, there is a good balance between theory and laboratory. The distinguishing features of our scheme are that it;

* differentiates between Pre-Eng/Pre-Med students

* recommends 3 English (functional) course each of 3 Cr Hrs (HEC recommends 4 each of 2 Cr Hrs)

* offers two courses (8 Cr Hrs) each of math (for pre-medical students) and biology (for pre-engineering students) as remedial courses followed by one additional course (3 Cr Hrs) of math for scientists. HEC offers 16 Cr Hrs of math with no regard for the prior knowledge of the students recommends pedagogy as a compulsory course (University graduates are usually required to be involved in giving and receiving instructions at their work place. Therefore, their familiarity with pedagogy will facilitate their interactions with the people. Moreover, some of the graduates will become teachers for which a course in pedagogy is very useful.)

* recommends research methodology as a compulsory course (Graduate students are required to undertake research projects for the degree. Currently, there is no formal course dealing with the HOW-TO-DO research. For this reason we are proposing this course as a help)

* offers 3 laboratory courses each of 1 Cr Hr for teaching standard lab practices (At the intermediate level, students are not exposed to significant lab work and as a result of which they lack manipulative skills, data processing skills, safety in the chemistry lab, setting chemistry lab, chemometrics, writing lab reports, etc. In the course proposed on standard lab practices, students will be taught standard practices in terms of manipulative skills, data processing, safety measures and writing lab reports.)

* offers three advanced laboratory courses (These courses are designed for lengthy experiments in the lab such as many step synthesis in inorganic and organic chemistry and rate-constant measurements in physical chemistry.)

* offers 2 Cr Hrs of special topics related to emerging technologies (e.g. nano-technology, genetic engineering, green chemistry, etc)

* offers one Cr Hr seminar (a student must listen all and present at least one seminar)

* offers 8 Cr Hrs research as against four credit hours suggested by HEC

The ICS is working on making different chemistry courses suitable for each semester and will fix it before taking it to the university bodies for approval. Being a significant initiative, this programme can become a model for other disciplines to follow at the university level. Also this model can be easily adopted for an integrated four-year Bachelors degree programme if other parameters are fulfilled.

Adopting the four-year bachelor degree programme by Pakistani universities is a step in the right direction. As a result of this transition, it is anticipated that university education in Pakistan will be able to compete on a global level. Such a broad based and diverse curriculum will ensure quality of our graduates. Hopefully the new scheme will be more relevant to the market demand and the graduates will get more recognition at home and abroad.

M. Fida is at GIKI and I.U. Mohammadzai is at Institute of Chemical Sciences

mfida@giki.edu.pk and imdadullah@upesh.edu.pk