Improving Higher Learning For A Better Tomorrow

Sun, 31 Aug 2008 19:32:08 EST

In the present times, education is considered the key to the progress and development of a nation and it is for this reason that a high level of research output in institutions of higher learning earns the country a good reputation abroad and enhances the competitiveness of its society and economy at home.

A famous English philosopher, Francis Bacon very rightly said that understanding and knowledge truly are power; and countries that fail to keep up on this front sooner or later falter on other fronts as well. Building research based institutions, that are internationally recognised, is certainly one of the best ways to prevent that and, more importantly, is a need of modern times.

The effects of traditionalism, the culture of conformity that it projects, and unwholesome government interference, when combined with the technical requirements for career advancements, have meant that very little original thinking takes place at our universities.

The overall psychological environment of society impacts researchers and conditions their responses. Our academics, understandably, are highly risk-averse and tend to either take a technocratic view of research or then avoid debate and projection of their ideas. As the great French historian Fernand Braudel understood, however, changes in cultural outlook proceed at a slow pace comparable to the pace of change of our physical environment. It is necessary that change towards greater rationality is understood by those who wield power as being in their own long-term enlightened self-interest for the process to be accelerated.

With so many internationally recognised universities offering affiliation to universities in developing countries like Pakistan, establishment of such institutions is not that hard a task as it is thought to be. The government and the HEC need to come out and encourage the development of such universities (in both the public and the private sector) and their successful operation. Universities are, at least in theory, autonomous corporations that should function with minimal external interference. The critical area where the government can exercise due control is in ensuring that the funds allocated to universities are properly spent and the broader policy issues are addressed. In addition, it needs to make sure that students or the faculty are not exploited in any way.

The most critical consideration, in this regard is the availability of faculty to begin with. It is better to have a smaller but more highly motivated group of researchers than a larger and demoralised group. It is also better to produce fewer research students who are genuinely competent rather than churning out vast number of paper-qualified individuals who cannot in many cases write a correct sentence. The administration of such institutions needs to be looked into and their autonomy and integrity must be respected. In this way the politicisation, administrative incompetence and intrigue that characterises our universities today would be transplanted without dedicated attention to this matter.

There is little doubt that a mature, well-functioning university, which is faithful to its mission of educating the community (whether in the public or the private sector) is an important vehicle of social stability and economic progress. In addition, for a country to develop, a critical mass of citizens, it must produce individuals who are trained to think. Therefore, a university of international standard, with its liberal curriculum and an atmosphere of free inquiry, helps enhance this essential body of thoughtful citizens through its young graduates who will become the future leaders of the country.

Furthermore, a good university is, above all, an important catalyst for social awakening and economic development. It produces graduates whose human capital is essential for the difficult process of nation-building. However, sadly due to the lack of quality education a large number of students leave the developing countries like Pakistan, in search of better and higher education in the West.

Legions of students overseas receive support from their parents who pay tuition fee using foreign exchange while the same funds could serve other urgent developmental needs of the country. If comparable education were available at home, many of these students would stay in the country and reduce the drain on scarce foreign exchange. The scarcity of foreign exchange pales when compared to the scarcity of trained manpower or "brain" from these countries and the pernicious impact of the loss of this resource is also very great.

On a more positive note, it is refreshing to see that many of the newly established private universities have been able to provide salaries and working conditions that have attracted a large number of expatriate scholars and even foreign academicians. Hence private universities can affect a significant reversal of the debilitating brain drain that afflicts all developing countries, against which they have been powerless for decades.

In recent years, the progress achieved in private higher education in the non-western world is impressive by historical standards. Opening a new university is always a milestone, a step not to be taken without adequate preparation. However, taking advantage of unique windows of opportunity and a confluence of favourable forces, a host of new private universities has cropped up in various parts of the developing world.

The landscape of higher education in these countries, and in the world as a whole, is richer as a result of this development. These new universities in the private sector are expected to bring an increased exchange of ideas and knowledge between the mature economies of the West and the struggling democracies and developing economies of the world. Already there has been something of a reversal in the international brain drain from the developing countries to the rich nations. The impact on the social and economic development of these societies could be far-reaching if these new institutions are built on solid foundations and efforts are sustained over time.

This is the age of information. Rapid and massive flows of data and information are the hallmark of the computer era. The process of economic development can be greatly accelerated by the universities of international standards. This is because a good university is not only a depository of existing data and information; it is a vigorous participant in creating new information and in disseminating and synthesising new and existing information. In addition, the early confinement of knowledge to a few key players is now irrevocably challenged by the development of the worldwide information superhighway.

The free flow of ideas is the best guard against tyrannical rulers, inefficient bureaucracies and businesses. For economies in transition and resource-poor nations with underdeveloped political institutions, universities can be important catalysts in building a civil society, a necessity if liberal democracy is to flourish.

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Improving Higher Learning For A Better Tomorrow