THIS is apropos the article ‘Pakistan’s professor mafia’ (July 1) by Pervez Hoodbhoy, Muhammad Ali Shaikh’s piece ‘Ailing universities’ (July 5) and Idrees Khawaja’s article ‘Part-time PhD’ (July 7).

A number of terminologies such as knowledge management, knowledge economy, etc., are cropping up to attain proper progress and prosperity on the basis of quality education and research and development. I wonder how these scholars forget that no system can progress unless its base is sound and concrete.

With reference to Pakistan’s education system, our primary education is being managed by boards, whereas our college education system lacks proper attention. Universities take input from colleges; therefore it is necessary to focus on a synergetic approach rather than working and debating in piecemeal.

Furthermore, the Higher Education Commission (HEC) has a full-fledged quality enhancement cell (QEC). The prima facie function of the QEC is to delve deeper into quality standards, contemporary issues, grey areas, international practices, demand driven-qualification and curricula to come up with proper recommendations and aligning the educational system with national and international demand.

The HEC should work in close coordination with all public and private-sector universities and degree-awarding institutes.

Moreover, industry is the end user of PhDs or any technical qualification. Hence, without taking industry in the loop, our education system is going to face the same issues from time to time. In order to ensure quality education and to come up on a par with the international community, civil society, academia, industries and the government should be on the same level to ensure progress.

Fayaz A. Soomro

Islamabad

Published in Dawn, July 19th, 2017