You would probably familiar to feudalism. It is dominant society system, in which lands owned by nobles while peasants are compelled to live on their lord’s lands and give him ‘honour’, and ‘labour’. Feudalisms of science has started from last two decades in Pakistani universities. Our national professors have a sole mission of research paper publication but research-less, as truly speaking. The actual research work is absent behind such massive publications.
I remember, and my fellow too will justify it, a distinguished National professor asked us to rote his lecture delivered by him during our M Phil class in physics department, QAU. On my inquiry, a friend told me, he is a notable scientist of Pakistan. Alas, I hidden a cry in my soul and passed that subject by memorising physics. When I google about the very professor, a huge number of research papers he owned and earned PhDs degrees for many students what I found. But he was unable to teach physics in class.
Another a PhD holder teacher of material science, teach old aged notes to students of his time, he was a student. Mysteriously, he has a clusters of research papers. Meet another but special case, a professor not capable of expressing his knowledge, vomit a selected text on the board with illogical examples. Moreover, he too, used to make a fear-based relation with students. That very professor is famous among students for given a tough time in exam, but to me a “Creativity Killer”. Spending time more in labs, our jealous professors has engrossed themselves over research without immersing a creative atmosphere.
Dr Pervez Hoodbhoy, a genuine physicist and activist, argued he is an occasional Friday speaker in QAU and have no position now, when I complain him about ongoing situation in the department, on my email contact. Additionally, he said, “you need to organise students around your points of view”.
But how peasants (students) of sciences can dare to say a word against the so-called science’s feudals, rather we must pay them honour and act like a labour in class and laboratories, as per system demands.
Whom to put the responsibility of seeding feudalisms in Sciences? Well, Higher Education Commission (HEC) sweeten the research field, such that the promotion, pay, perk and so on relates to number of publications. While recommending a teacher or field specialist in any field for university, the HEC neither certified teaching and knowledge transfer abilities on that time, nor have any check during the whole rest academic life of that very professor. The only scale is numbers of papers.
The reality of feudalism in science reveal, when one sees publication lists of any of professor. As an example, one has citation of 94374, with huge publications. But his all papers are in collaboration with foreign professor who have put his name in every research paper and so make him a highly cited hero of Pakistan. That very professor has no influential skills to explore the student’s dormant skills and never produce even a single mathematician, whom the Pakistani nation would feel proud.
Pakistani universities are introducing a feudalistic and pseudoscience system in science. This is one of the many causes that internationally, ranking of our universities keeps dropping in QS and Time Higher Education world ranking every year
A closer look disclose, Pakistani universities is introducing a feudalistic and pseudoscience system in science. This is one of many causes, our science has no a fragile industrial connection at national level. Internationally, our universities ranking drop down in QS and Time Higher Education world ranking every year.
The khan new government must focalise the accountability of these so-called science’s lords just as it has raised a voice against the country feudals and elite. Otherwise the former will demolish the minds of nations and such science’s feudalism will bring darkness in the field.
Researcher of Natural Sciences at Department of Physics, QAU Islamabad
Published in Daily Times, October 31st 2018.