THIS is with reference to the article “How Pakistan’s higher education went off track” (EOS, April 19), which was spread over two full pages, but, contrary to the perception generated by the headline, did not properly focus on the key performance indicators (KPIs) of higher education, like inclusive teaching, research culture and skills development. These are the very elements that have suffered the most. Instead, the whole article hovered around the Tenure Track System (TTS) which was at the cost of several other more important elements.

The said article particularly reflected upon five dimensions seen through the TTS prism. The first such dimension was higher education reforms. The TTS package was introduced in 2003. The article says that by 2015 it had become obvious that the TTS was ailing and had proved to be unattractive and even contrary to the original spirit of higher education reforms.

These reforms could not be realised by taking care of the incentives alone, such as the TTS, as the induction of these reforms will always be incomplete without implementing the other two key compo-nents; accountability and transparency. As it is, with zero accountability and transparency on board, the mere induction of TTS even for 12 years could not pull the trigger and put the higher education system on track.

The second dimension mentioned was the Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) world university rankings. Out of about 200 recognised universities in Pakistan, only one has ever made it into the world’s top 350 universities; #334 in QS 2023. As a matter of fact, our universities are simply unfit to be a part of such rankings, as we lack the wherewithal to qualify for fetching ourselves the desired points in the five scoring domains of the rankings.

The third dimension was faculty hiring interviews. The reality on the ground suggests that hiring interviews are mostly held conforming to politics, biasness and partiality. Knowledge level and the standard skillset of an applicant do not carry the same weight.

The fourth dimension mentioned in the said article was the findings of the 2001 task force. In order to achieve the dual objectives of nation-building and global competitiveness, the report had concluded that universities direly need autonomy and improved governance to ensure insti-tutional performance and accountability. After 25 years, what we have is a system in which universities are controlled from the top, with poor and compromised governance yielding zero noteworthy performance and accountability.

The final dimension was the need to salvage higher education. The system is already broken, with quality, creativity and innovation remaining mere pipe-dreams. The way forward seems to lie in adopting the top-down approach, focusing majorly on the bigger picture to put the house in order. The rot at the top, if any, needs to be cleansed first. If we can do that, we can expect to turn teaching-heavy uni-versities into research-driven institutions.

Prof (Dr) Abdul Rehman Memon
Karachi

Published in Dawn, April 29th, 2026