Daily Times

What do we know about education apart from the fact that there’s a serious crisis going on?

In reality, apart from the bleak statistics about primary education, we have all kinds of educational emergencies that we chose to ignore.

Given that education is often a guarantee of upward social mobility, the hunt for a degree becomes a return-on-investment strategy in a backward economy like Pakistan. The choice of education has more to do with social as well as financial security rather than one’s dreams or passions.

Some fields are always preferred over others because of the amount of money one can make. The premiums on this kind of education, which bring with them the prospects of employability, are high and thus such fields will always be saturated. Social sciences globally have seen a decline in intake and education in liberal arts is now increasingly seen as a domain of the upper middle class, upper class and such.

On the other hand, there has been a marked uptake in the number of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) degrees that people are looking to acquire.

The unwavering certitude of employability as well as the social prestige that a medical degree brings makes becoming a doctor priority number one. And doctors are followed by STEM-degree holders.

Pakistan has seen a significant growth in the number of universities offering such programs. In fact, there are now entire universities that solely focus on the subject and nothing else. The medical field remains somewhat regulated because of the strict laws governing new private medical colleges, and because of the astronomical expenses, one would incur acquiring a private medical education. This has left the field open to private engineering colleges where Pakistan Engineering Council (PEC), the premier regulating body of engineering education and a body representing the collective interests of engineers, doesn’t come across as strict as Pakistan Medical and Dental Association, the authority governing medical institutes.

Students acquiring education in these institutes are introduced to tunnel vision very early on in their academic careers. The unique nature of the discipline brings with itself unique problems. However, education in such subjects has fast become particularly tailored to one kind of employability. And in this mind-set lies the real problem. The idea that one will be able to get a stable job, with a stable income, subdues the spirit of innovation, which is otherwise supposed to be a big part of engineering. And this issue has far-reaching consequences.

In Pakistan, a trend can be observed where engineering graduates in particular, and STEM graduates in general, tend to be conservative and thus are more susceptible to fundamentalism. This is largely because they have not undergone the kind of education that is typical to a humanities student. Engineering in essence is the application of science. Engineering in most part doesn’t ask fundamental questions and the arc of development of a mind trained in engineering is a closed loop where answer to every question and problem is possible.

A mind trained in STEM is suspicious of doubt. Machines don’t work on doubt! On the other hand, social questions don’t have an answer. There can be possible solutions and alternatives but a reductive, fit-for-all answer is an untenable reality. When confronted with complex questions of social arrangement and political scenarios, a mind trained in certitude will tend to find a workable, but limited in dimension answer. Those kind of easy answers are provided by dogmas of conservativism. Hence, we observe the lack of progressive thinking in STEM or particularly in engineering graduates.

This combination of advanced knowledge of sophisticated technology with a fixed suspicion of open-ended socio-political reality makes for a lethal prospect. This can be exploited easily, not because they are uneducated but because their education can be a fertile foregrounding for a conservative kind of politics or even of extremism. If even the worst doesn’t materialise then it is an opportunity missed for ameliorating the social conditions and economic standing of the country. There is a huge gap in the economy, which can be filled if the technologies are accessible, operable and locally reproducible.

It goes without saying that a socially sensitive employment of technology and the use of technology to come to unique solutions for the economy and society will be possible only if engineers have a sense of how society works.

Entrepreneurship is now considered an integral part of education in engineering. This has to do with connecting one’s technical knowledge to possible innovative solutions to address problems of socio-materialist production. Given the lack of industrialisation and huge investment of capital, small and medium scale industries and social entrepreneurship cannot only kick-start the economy but push it in the right direction. However, without knowledge of society and understanding of the needs of said society, no viable solution can be created.

In Pakistan, technical education in engineering and associated fields is imparted in places where interactions with students of other disciplines is either absent or minimal. This calls for a special focus on sensitising students in engineering to social needs and dynamics

It is necessary to revise the curriculum and make space for social sciences and humanities in the discipline. In Pakistan, technical education in engineering and associated fields is imparted in places where interactions with students of other disciplines is either absent or minimal. This calls for a special focus on sensitising students in engineering to social needs and dynamics.

For now, in Pakistan, only Pakistan Studies and Islamiyat, are subjects that are added to engineering education. Subjects related to ethics or management follow a narrowly tailored-to-science approach.

It is no wonder then that the engineers produced by the country don’t and can’t live to the full potential of social innovation. Not only to counter the innate nature of a focused reality, but to enable a new kind of social engagement, there is a need to include social sciences and humanities in the curriculum for education in engineering.

The author writes about politics, culture, and the intersection of both. He is currently pursuing his PhD in South Korea

Published in Daily Times, June 27^th 2018.