UNDUE interference by officials and bending of the rules has ruined many an institution in Pakistan. The education sector is no stranger to politicisation and nepotism, especially where public sector institutions are concerned.

A controversy has emerged around Aitchison College, the Lahore institution where the scions of Pakistan’s elite have been educated for generations. The Australian principal of the school, Michael A. Thompson, has tendered his resignation, apparently due to interference in the institution’s affairs by the Punjab governor.

Regarding the specifics of the case, the wife of former bureaucrat and current federal minister Ahad Cheema had asked that the school waive the fees and reserve the places of two of the couple’s children for three years. Though the principal had refused the fee waiver, the Punjab governor went ahead and approved it. The principal had also previously tendered his resignation, citing pressure from political circles. The federal government is now reportedly trying to mend fences with Mr Thompson.

The Aitchison incident illustrates the state’s skewed priorities. While institutions are arm-twisted to accommodate ‘requests’, the education sector is suffering from neglect as the state is not taking action where it is supposed to. A glaring example of this is the current crisis confronting the higher education sector.

Around a third of the country’s universities are without vice chancellors, with nearly half of these vacancies in Punjab. Moreover, the situation of academics in varsities is far from satisfactory. In most cases, students are not learning the 21st-century skills they need to prosper, while plagiarism and academic dishonesty within the faculty sends the message to students that fraud pays.

Instead of handling such considerable challenges, the state is more involved in wheeling and dealing, campus politics, and accommodating favourites. As the Aitchison principal noted, “politics and nepotism have no place in schools”. It is hoped that the higher authorities realise this, and stop their meddlesome incursions.

Published in Dawn, March 27th, 2024