It goes without saying that the education sector is the most important mean of building an educated, tolerant and civilized society. It also creates ability in the students to excel and move forward in this rapidly changing world of the 21st century. In fact, the role of schools, technical and higher education is very important in overall national development because a good education sector can shape up the society and population in a handsome manner.
It is often said that the real strength of the U.S. is not its huge military industrial complex but a variety of world-class colleges and universities which develop the students as the best resource for different sectors. Even, UK is known for its elite educational institutions including Eton, Harrow Winchester, Westminster, Rugby, Shrewsbury and Charterhouse that played a crucial role in building and consolidating the vast colonial empire by providing best men to the Raj.
However, Pakistan has not been able to build up a good education system because of many reasons. It is the national stigma that the education sector was ignored and more attention was given to developing flashy concrete structures for attracting voters. This has left serious implications and effects on the national economy, industry, and politics. Pakistan has remained a victim to the low-growth economy as there is no innovation and research in social, technical, information technology and engineering sectors. With the advancement of information and communication technologies during the last 50 years, the multifarious role of colleges and universities has become even more important for developing minds as a source of creative learning. In advanced countries, colleges and universities also act as engines of growth, innovation and a key institution in the processes of social change and development. But in Pakistan, the educational institutions have become stale and non-innovation sectors. Recently, an academic of great repute (Adil Najam) has regretted that a culture of mediocrity and average intelligence has taken shape in Pakistani educational institutions.
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We can see, recently, when the Punjab government tried to ensure teachers’ training for college teachers, they started protesting for a whole week on the Mall Road now which is one of the busiest intersections of the provincial metropolis. The protesting teachers are claiming that they are doing it for the rights of the teachers’ community while causing huge inconvenience to the general public, traders and the students. Due to the continued blockade of Mall Road at Charing Cross, the whole public transport system has been disturbed and people are facing great inconvenience. Likewise, business activities are also affected while security of the protesting teachers is another issue for the government. The continued agitation of teachers has deprived their students of the fundamental right of education as the agitating teachers are doing it at the cost of the educational future of their students. These teachers are government employees and are responsible to follow the government rules and regulations. It is sanguine that the Punjab government has done the right thing by sticking to the genuine demand that the training must be done by the teachers in modern skills and knowledge.
Also, we have seen the UET teachers association protesting against the Punjab government as it, apparently, did not let the UET approve the illegal benefits to 150 professors and other staff, while the hiring of 114 union favorites was also objected to. It is reported that the members of teaching staff associations of the UET Lahore, after the meeting of the syndicate, waylaid the vice chancellor and threatened him of dire consequences in case the recommendations of the selection board are not approved by the syndicate without any amendment or delay.
This is a deplorable situation as no development can be ensured by the incumbent PTI government without first ensuring that the education sector is developed on modern lines.
Punjab has a network of more than 2500 public and private sector colleges with an enrolment of more than 1.2 million students. It has also 65 provincially chartered public and private universities and degree awarding institutions. The Punjab government has envisioned introducing a composite higher education policy aiming at improving quality, governance, institutional development and encouraging public-private partnership. As colleges and universities are service delivery outlets of higher education, efficient data systems are necessary for quicker and better service delivery. It has been planned by the provincial higher education department to establish a project management unit for higher education information management system and the envisaged PMU will evolve a robust system of communication/information gathering for policy planning. It is observed that lack of focus on impactful research and regular training of faculty and staff at higher education institutions affects management, research and training. In order to address it, a network of three higher education management, research and learning institutes have been planned. The hub will be at Lahore while the two satellite institutes will be established in north and south of the province. These institutes will act as the hub of ideas, innovation and continued training programs and will also facilitate the government of Punjab as think tanks to develop and recommend policy solutions. The provincial higher education department is also working on composite reforms agenda to improve the standards of public sector colleges. Meanwhile, the Punjab government is aimed to establish three globally competitive universities, one in each region of Punjab i.e., north, south and center. These universities will cater to the needs of the region and will ensure the provision of quality higher education by affiliating all the colleges in the region.
Education must be a priority, otherwise, it will not work to develop the society and we will be deprived of reaping the benefits of technological developments. Things have not worked in the past due to piecemeal approaches. While the entire sector must be seen together, the teaching faculty of colleges and universities must be trained through a continuous training and skills development program so that the youth could learn to move forward and the dream of a new Pakistan could be materialized.
The writer is a Lahore based public policy analyst