Daily Times

A few days ago, Imtiaz Ahmed Shaikh, MPA Pakistan People’s Party (PPP)posted a message on his Facebook page that Murad Ali Shah, Chief Minister Sindh, has approved the summary of upgradation of Shah Abdul Latif University, Shaikh Ayaz Campus at Shikarpur to a full-fledged university named ‘Shaikh Ayaz University’.

In connection with it, the Higher Education Commission, Sindh (HEC) is preparing a draft of the bill, which will be presented in Sindh Assembly for enactment. The university will not only pave the way to revive the lost glory of Shikarpur but also would bring about a revolutionary educational, cultural and economic change in the interior Sindh and the neighbouring areas of Balochistan.

Under Vision 2025, the federal government has to establish university campuses and upgrade existing campuses to full-fledged universities in all districts in the country to promote higher education.

In connection with the implementation of the vision, in November 2017, the Chartered Inspection and Evaluation committee of Higher Education Commission Sindh headed by Prof Dr Abdul Qadeer visited the Shikarpur Campus regarding the upgradation of its status to a full-fledged university. Dr Abdul Qadeer talking to the media had said that as the campus meets almost all of the required parameters, therefore, it should be upgraded to a full-fledged university.

The university will not only pave the way to revive the lost glory of Shikarpur but will also bring about a revolutionary educational, cultural and economic change in the interior Sindh and the areas neighbouring Balochistan

In education, Shikarpur was far ahead of other districts in the interior Sindh. During the British rule in India, Sindh had only three colleges. Established in June 1933, Chella Singh and Sital Das College Shikarpur in affiliation with Bombay University was one of them. During the 1930s, there were 77 graduates in the whole of Sindh, and it was due to this very establishment that 70 of them hailed from Shikarpur. Reportedly, not only there were a number of public libraries, but also people had set-up more than a hundred private and personal libraries in the city.

After the Indo-Pak partition, the economic, architectural and educational downfall of the Paris of Sindh started, and slowly and gradually, the hub of education became the centre of deadly tribal clashes, ignorance and lawlessness.

But the emerald city of Shikarpur is going to be the centre of education once again. In February 2011, Shah Abdul Latif University, Shaikh Ayaz Campus was established in the city. The campus was named after Shikarpur born Shaikh Ayaz, a prominent Sindhi poet, who wrote a number of books. He was awarded ‘Sitara-e-Imtiaz’ for his literary work.

The fact is that education is the lifeline of a prosperous, healthy and robust society and crucial to human resources development and poverty alleviation.

Illiteracy leads to a weak, unjust, and unhealthy society that produces poorly educated youth who wander clumsily around in the competitive job market. Because of the lack of higher education institutions in Shikarpur, Jacobabad, Kandhkot, Larkana, and Shahdad Kot districts in the interior Sindh and the neighbouring areas of Balochistan province, a large force of poorly produced graduates and post-graduates belonging to these regions have been unable to get appropriate employment.

Amidst numerous other factors, the critical factor responsible for rapidly increasing extremism and terrorism in the interior Sindh and adjacent areas of Balochistan is high illiteracy ratio, ever-flourishing inflation and sky-touching poverty. These elements have provided religious fanatics with the opportunity to create an extremist and astringent mindset. The university can help wipe out the menace of growing extremism and militancy in the region.

The federal government implementing the Vision 2025 had allocated Rs five billion for establishing sub-campuses and Rs one billion for up-gradation of campuses to full-fledged universities in the backward areas of Pakistan. According to a report, the federating units/provinces will provide free of cost land, and the HEC would provide funding for infrastructure and faculty development. The Sindh government is expected to pass the Act unanimously for the up-gradation of Shaikh Ayaz Campus to full-fledged Shaikh Ayaz University and purchase land promptly for the construction of its physical infrastructure.

The writer is an academic, and can be reached on Twitter @ARShykh

Published in Daily Times, January 24^th 2018.