WHILE the medical education system in Pakistan has several issues that it needs to deal with, I am writing to share the dilemma of foreign students at the Liaquat University of Medical and Health Sciences (LUMHS), Jamshoro. The 2021-22 batch at the LUMHS has 15 foreign students from countries as diverse as Palestine, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Afghanistan, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and some other Arab as well as European countries.

It has been over a month since classes started, but foreign students simply cannot understand what they are being taught during the lectures owing to language and related issues. It is under- standable that the foreigners cannot follow if the lectures are delivered in Urdu or Sindhi. However, it is rather strange that even when the lectures are delivered in ‘English’ language, local accent and pronunciation patterns of most of the teachers keep the content as alien for the foreign students as they are in Urdu or Sindhi. I have spoken to several of these foreign students and have come across none who would claim to have understood much thus far.

They routinely skip classes conducted by most of the teachers due to this very reason. What is the point, they wonder.

This has resulted in a waste of their time and money, for they simply cannot comprehend a word being taught by the teachers. Indeed, some of them are planning to pursue their higher education in their respective countries, and some are preparing to leave even in the middle of their courses.

There are some teachers who are great for foreign students, but, being a medical student of the new integrated module system is difficult as every subject is interconnected; if you understand all other subjects but suffer in one subject, this will be a huge setback, and one is bound to suffer in the whole course.

Studying here as a foreign student, they pay a hefty amount of fees to the institution. Leaving the studies midstream will result in financial loss, but they still want to leave because even if they somehow pass, their degrees will be good for nothing because they are not comprehending anything at all.

On the flip side, the hefty fee these foreign students pay generates good overall revenue for the institution which uses it to fund scholarships and infra- structure development. If these students leave and the word of mouth spreads, not many will be coming to study here. There, indeed, are many foreign students who keep Pakistan as one of the options for their professional studies. Will they still be interested after watching their compatriots returning from Pakistan in the middle of their studies and without earning their degrees? Hardly.

As I understand on the basis of my interactions with foreign students elsewhere in the province, the problem is not specific to LUMHS. The fact is that foreign students at other public-sector universities in most parts of Sindh have the same complaints. They cannot understand a word during the lectures owing to unfamiliar pronunciation and lack of proficiency in English among the teachers. It seems there are no teachers’ development programmes, and no one cares about seeking feedback from the students who suffer in silence due to language and communication issues.

This problem may be overcome by asking teachers to improve their English language skills, which will not only be beneficial for foreign nationals, but also for local students. But here we can also contend that if we learn English or other foreign languages before applying for a degree programme in the West, why cannot students from the West and other non-English speaking countries learn Urdu to adjust to the local culture and society?

The government can make it manda-tory for all foreign students seeking admission to medical and other general universities in Pakistan to first learn Urdu. One should take a cue from some European countries, such as Germany, where one has to take up language courses to seek admission to some of their universities.

This will not only generate revenue for the country, but will also be a way to promote the local culture around the world. This way the foreign students will not feel left out and will integrate into the local community. They deserve it.

Eekash Jewraj
Jamshoro

Published in Dawn, March 13th, 2023