PUTTING teachers in administrative roles is commonplace in the higher education system of Pakistan. However, it is not necessary that a good professor may also have excellent management skills and prove to be a wonderful administrator.

In fact, this practice is already affecting the quality of education as well as the working efficiency of administrative bodies in universities.

A teacher’s job is to teach. When educators are burdened with extra duties, their performance suffers. In Pakistan, however, even PhD scholars prefer to head the department instead of focussing on teaching and conducting reserach.

Moreover, teaching faculty members spend most of their time, energy and other resources to gain expertise in a particular field and when they are supposed to use their knowledge in academia, they start enjoying the perks of different administrative positions.

While pursuing their studies, these teachers hardly take any management-level courses that may make them capable of running the administration of educational institutions. As a result, the higher education system’s failure at the policymaking level can frequently be observed.

There is a need to segregate these two cadres of employment that are different from each other. Educational institutions should hire professionals having management experience in administrative positions and not reshuffle teachers for such purposes.

Sarmad Ali
Khipro

LOCAL LANGUAGES: At the time of independence, Urdu was declared the national language, while English became the official language of the country. However, it is not uncommon in public offices to come across officials who speak their own local languages, which makes things difficult for the members of the public visiting such offices. I went to a district office recently and started communicating with the official in Urdu, but he replied in his own mother tongue that I did not understand. The government must bar public officials from speaking local languages in offices.

Mumtaz Sajidi
Khuzdar

TOURISM BOTTLENECKS: Last year nearly 700,000 local and foreign tourists visited Gilgit-Baltistan because it is an ideal tourist destination. However, the lack of proper infrastructure in terms of roads and hotels is hampering the growth of the tourism industry. The government plans to promote tourism, but it can only be achieved by improving the road infrastructure and facilities for tourists.

Muhammad Zaheer Ul Haque
Astore

MAKRAN FLOODING: Makran, a coastal region in Balochistan, has been lying in a dilapidated condition since the last heavy rainfall when the water levels in dams, rivers and canals increased significantly, causing flooding in the region. Houses, schools, roads and other infrastructure were destroyed, but there has since been no effort to rebuild. The authorities would do well to visit the area or ask for a report from the officials posted in the region.

Shayzanth Jummah
Makran

RICE CANAL BANKS: Despite the fact that the relevant authorities had been alerted about the crumbling banks of the rice canal in Larkana, no action was taken and things have gone from bad to worse. An old tree that was a sort of landmark along the banks is no more, and the infrastructure newly installed is just about falling apart. The higher authorities need to visit the area personally to see the collapsing banks of the said canal.

Babar Ali Khuhawar
Larkana

Published in Dawn, January 13th, 2022