THE College of Home Economics, Lahore, the first of its kind in Pakistan, was established in 1955 as a skill-based interdisciplinary educational institution aimed at women empowerment. The college has an academic association with the world renowned Oklahoma University of the United States for curriculum development and teacher training.
The subject of Home Economics, as a field of study, to the layman is merely about sewing aprons, cooking and baking a cake. However, the discipline of education has over the years evolved to encompass areas, such as food and nutrition, textile and clothing, child-care and development, sociology, housing and interior decoration, with a focus on family wellbeing.
The college has made the country proud over the years by producing professionals par excellence as entrepreneurs, nutritionists, florists, interior designers, bureaucrats, school administrators and career counsellors.
In 2017, the college was elevated to the status of a university with the objective of renovating the physical structure to empower home economists with improved research facilities and produce more MPhil and PhD students. Despite the well-intentioned move, not much spadework has been done to improve the dynamics of the subject as a specialised theme, as the administration has set its direction towards converting the institution into a general university.
The recent issuance of a notification in April 2021 by the administration has rung alarm bells as Home Economics as a subject has been relegated from the main theme to one of the newly-approved five general faculties, with 25 departments and multiple degree programmes.
The syndicate has also decided to build a new campus elsewhere as the College of Home Economics and Social Sciences.
The alumni have a valid and prudent stance against this approach seeking reversal of the university status to the previous one catering to the specialised discipline of Home Economics. To have a new building and to replace the existing campus, which is a purpose-built facility with all necessary infrastructure available to impart training for the specific subject, is an irrational and irresponsible act.
It is not prudent to spend enormous government resources and discard the present setup comprising laboratories for textiles, nutrition, arts, interior design and a nursery for children. The cause taken up by the alumni is a just one with the intent of saving the legacy of the College of Home Economics.
In the light of these factors, the government should order the reversal of the university to its original status of being a college. It is our collective responsibility to retain the authentic cultural heritage, narrative, identity and the very existence of the College of Home Economics.
Salma Tahir
Lahore
Published in Dawn, August 7th, 2021
