In these unprecedented times, it is not only our economy that is staggering but education is also in shambles. Board and Cambridge exams have been deferred while semester classes are in a state of uncertainty. Higher education is perhaps the least discussed issue by the government and for the last two weeks, trends like #WeRejectOnllineClasses #WeWantSemesterBreak and #HEC_StopOnlineClasses are doing the rounds on Twitter. Though it was a planned campaign but qualms that students are facing regarding online education are not absolutely wrong. It begs a question: is only the HEC a sole responsible for enduring this strident reaction from university students?
This pertinent issue needs to be viewed through many layers. First, after the 18th Amendment, the subject of the HEC has been devolved to provinces. It would have been a beneficial idea, had powers, functions and resources been smoothly shared with provinces right after devolution. It was 2018 – eight years after the enforcement of the 18th amendment – when these subjects were finalized with provinces. Consequently, Sindh and Punjab developed and strengthened their own commissions after 2012 but Khyber Pakhtunkhwa still has department instead of commission. Balochistan continues to struggle to establish the commission of higher education due to inadequate human resources; thus works under the guidelines of the federal HEC.
This lockdown reminds the government about the accessibility of internet facilities to remote areas as soon as possible
The primary aim of federal and provincial HECs remained to galvanize PhDs but no capacity building was envisioned by both HECs and universities in terms of imminent technology shift. This was further complicated by deduction in higher education budgets that plunged public sector universities in financial crisis. Since private sector universities receive a greater financial capital from student fee, they have synced with modern ideas of learning systems through technology as compared to public sector universities. Now, the HEC has directed universities to take online classes during lockdown due to COVID-19, many universities and DAIs – mostly public sector in KP and Balochistan – are having little or no capacity to cope up with this sudden shift in learning mechanisms. They are in abysmal condition to take online classes.
Second, students’ reservations are also a genuine case. There are thousands of students who belong to remote areas of Pakistan that are deprived of internet connectivity. The online education is boon to those who have access to internet with good bandwidth. Since online classes depend on internet, the uniformity in learning can’t be achieved in the absence of internet. The current online assessment tools are infantile and online classes without assessment will be unproductive, if it goes longer than couple of months. Another challenge is sustaining privacy and security during online classes. Technology is vulnerable not only in Pakistan but around the world due to its misuse. Hacking of accounts and then posting inappropriate stuff there is a challenge during online classes that immediately needs to be curbed. Among those female students who take online classes, many of them complain about their privacy breach and are reluctant to take classes. Until a convenient, uniform and safe learning system would not be introduced by universities and HECs, online education won’t yield its benefits.
Third, there are few reservations from students that beg government’s heed and attention. It is imperative to know that provision of internet facility to all areas of Pakistan is not the jurisdiction of HECs. It is a mammoth task that can only be done by the government in collaboration with the PTA. It is a sad state of affairs that many parts of Balochistan and former FATA have kept without internet for a long time. How could students of these areas be proponent of online education when they don’t have internet facility? This lockdown reminds the government about the accessibility of internet facilities to remote areas as soon as possible.
In these uncertain times, all three stakeholders – students, HECs and the government – must coordinate with each other to reach a constructive solution. However, the greater responsibility is on government and HECs. Drastic times call for drastic measures. Federal and provincial HECs must be on the same page. A uniform response should be achieved to collective problems. As the HEC has already directed universities to test and update their capabilities of providing online education through Learning Management System, it is also obligatory for government to provide internet data on cheap rates to all the university students.
This is a litmus test for HECs and universities to envision innovative pedagogy and learning systems for future. HECs need to push universities to upgrade their teaching systems. The imminent future is of digital class rooms. Pakistan has enormous tele-density which can be used to fulfill the demands of online learning. Through this lockdown, we have come to know that there are still many universities that haven’t have a robust online learning system; results in waste of precious time of students.
Having no classes at all can be acceptable for straight two and half months? What, if this lockdown goes beyond May 31? We should always be well prepared for the worst to deal with problems before they appear. It is significant that we should prepare ourselves today. Every cloud has a silver lining. Let’s consider online classes as a trial. It is an opportunity for students and teachers to learn methods of online education. Let’s give it a chance.
The writer is a lecturer at Superior University Lahore. He is also a youth correspondent to Commonwealth in Pakistan. He can be reached at [email protected]