Globalization-Pakistan higher education

Bring HEC back to earth
>
> Pervez Hoodbhoy
>
> Every day brings new evidence that the planning of higher education
in
> Pakistan has run out of control. It is now more about fantasy than
fact.
> There seems no other way to explain the fact that while the country
is
> becoming besieged by almost daily suicide bombings and religious
fanatics
> can kill a woman minister for being un-Islamically dressed, the
Higher
> Education Commission plans to spend $4.3 billion on building nine
new
> engineering universities, staffed with European faculty and
administrators.
>
> It must have sounded like a wonderful idea. Pakistan would pay for
France,
> Sweden, Italy, and some other European countries to help set up,
manage, and
> provide professors for new universities in Pakistan. It would be
expensive -
> Pakistan would have to pay the full development costs, recurrent
expenses,
> and euro-level salaries (plus 40 percent markup) for all the foreign
> professors and vice-chancellors. But the large presence of European
> professors teaching in these Pakistan universities would ensure high
> standards of teaching, the degrees would be awarded by institutions
in the
> respective European countries, and Pakistan would finally end the
acute
> shortage of international quality engineers.
>
> Work has already started. Off the nine universities, the most
advanced in
> terms of construction and planning is the French engineering
university with
> a completion cost of Rs26 billion. It has been named UESTP-France in
> Karachi, and has an ultimate faculty size of 450-600 with around
5000-7000
> students. Its construction is underway and the official starting
date is
> listed as October 2007.
>
> On the ground, the situation looks dismal. The French seem
completely absent
> from the French university. As of the beginning of March 2007, not
a single
> faculty member from France - including the all-important head of the
> university - has joined. This was confirmed to me by French official
> sources, and has not been refuted by the HEC. Even the skeleton
crew is not
> on board although decent academic planning for a university
requires years
> of preparation for the curricula, courses, laboratories, and
infrastructure.
>
> According to the HEC "Initially, over 50 per cent of the faculty
will be
> from partner countries but as foreign-trained Pakistani faculty
become
> available over the next five to eight years, the foreign faculty
component
> will be reduced to about 25 per cent". This means that UESTP-France
in
> Karachi needs to find - just as a startup - scores of French
professors and
> still more Pakistani engineering professors for its faculty.
>
> Should we blame the French for not turning up? And are hundreds of
Swedes,
> and other Europeans any more likely to turn up to live and teach in
Pakistan
> for several years at such a time? What is a European professor to
make of
> the suicide bombings at the Islamabad international airport, the
Islamabad
> Marriot Hotel, the Quetta High Court, and so many more in the past
year, and
> that the international community grows more convinced everyday that
Pakistan
> has become a new haven for Al Qaeda?
>
> Even if the Europeans came, there would not be enough Pakistani
faculty for
> all these universities. The sad fact is that currently there are no
more
> than 2-3 dozen PhD engineering professors in all of Pakistan's
engineering
> universities who can teach modern engineering subjects at an
international
> professional level. So, even if every one of these universities
were sucked
> dry of all its best, this would be barely sufficient for meeting
the needs
> of the first phase of the first Pak-European university. What will
happen
> then to the Rs37 billion Pak-Swedish University, scheduled to start
in 2008
> and to be located in Sialkot, and which will need even more
teachers?
>
> The HEC says that in time there will be more Pakistani faculty as
500
> Pakistani engineers have currently been sent for PhD degrees
abroad. This
> simply cannot suffice for meeting the needs for nine universities,
which
> will need in total thousands of teachers.
>
> To be honest, the HEC should recognise even the 500 engineers it
sent abroad
> may not be enough for even one university. Not all will succeed in
getting a
> Ph.D. Past experience also shows that some of the really good
students who
> get PhDs will stay on in the West, and some who do return to
Pakistan will
> be too mediocre for university-level teaching. It is irresponsible
to plan a
> series of universities with so much wishful thinking.
>
> Far wiser would be to aim for, at the very most, two properly
planned new
> engineering universities under the collective authority of the
European
> Union, and to seek external help for adding engineering departments
to
> existing universities, as well as to massively upgrade existing
ones. But
> these relatively modest goals are unacceptable to a HEC leadership
that
> believes, like the Musharraf regime as a whole, in grand plans
rather than
> practical, feasible reforms.
>
> Administrative incompetence and bungling has become the hallmark of
HEC
> projects, whether large amounts of money are involved or not.
Consider the
> ham-handed manner in which rules for students wishing to register
for the
> PhD degree in Pakistani universities have been changed.
>
> According to the new rules, published in national newspapers, it is
now
> necessary for every student to 'clear' the subject GRE exam,
administered by
> the Princeton-based Education Testing Service, before the student
is granted
> admission to the PhD programme of any Pakistani university.
Considered
> dauntingly tough by our students (most of their teachers would fare
poorly
> as well) these exams do measure aptitude for higher studies fairly
well. The
> logic - faultless in itself - is that Pakistani students must
measure up to
> international standards.
>
> But left dangling are the key questions: what marks or percentile
rating
> does 'clear' mean and who will decide? Who will pay the $160
examination
> fee, a major consideration for our public-university students? How
to
> acclimatise the student, who has operated hitherto in a familiar
> rote-learning mode, into an alien problem-solving mode?
>
> The HEC is silent on these fundamental questions, but without
addressing
> them a collapse of PhD programs will occur nationwide. This is just
one more
> example of the scores of arbitrary schemes conceived by the HEC
that have
> placed Pakistan's higher education in serious danger.
>
> Other projects launched by the HEC - such as incentivising the
publication
> of research papers - have caused plagiarism to explode across the
national
> scene. Hastily conceived and badly managed, they have channelled
resources
> away from crucial areas into grandiose schemes. The HEC must be
brought to
> task. There needs to be an independent investigation of its plans
and
> financing, a review of its programmes, and a full audit of all the
money
> that has been spent on and by HEC.
>
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