Introduction
It’s no wonder or an enigma that the higher education system in Pakistan is in tatters. Thousands of higher-educational departments sprout up each year. However, they fail to equip the dynamic youth of Pakistan with the skill sets that are pivotal in order to survive in this hostile atomic and information age. Consequently, millions of graduates throng the job sector like bees striving to secure a chunk of an edible article to justify their needs and survival.
Unfortunately, the job sector of Pakistan is quite saturated and has desperately failed to accommodate the heavy influx of fresh, out-of-college graduates due to diversified reasons, ranging from economic instability and the influence of typical “seth” culture, which instead of fostering innovation clamps down on individuals capable of revolutionizing an entire sector. However, our crippling higher educational system harbors the same guilt and crime when it comes to molding the youth of Pakistan to vanquish the challenges that lie ahead.
Historical Outlook
Pakistan, at its time of inception, inherited a few top-notch institutes that the British crown established during its 90-year regime. Noteworthy among them are King Edward Medical University, Government College University, the National College of Arts, and the University of Punjab. Some of these universities gave birth to iconic individuals who carried out pioneering services in their respective fields. Visionaries like Dr. Allama Iqbal (RH), literary luminaries like Faiz Ahmed Faiz, and myriad scientific minds who played a pivotal role in propelling modern scientific theories ahead.
However, the residual educational system that categorized the British Raj thrives to this day. The secondary and higher secondary educational systems are still operating, and the boards that govern the mode of education and organization of academic examinations operate on a user manual that is more than 170 years old. An analysis of an average textbook being taught at the secondary or higher secondary level is a bearer of the unfortunate fact that the course outline and content have not undergone the creative destruction evolution that is a hallmark of the educational system of the developed nations.
Is the System Truly Lagging?
It’s no wonder that our teenagers fail to keep themselves in the loop with the novel discoveries made in the field of science and technology. Our higher educational institutes are also equally responsible for fostering the ancient rote-learning process that can have a detrimental effect on the intellectual growth and nourishment of students. A typical classroom environment and the stern demeanor that a course instructor displays are contributing factors that avert the spurring up of constructive discourse, which is an imperative proviso of growth during a learning stage.
The Structure of the Higher Education System in Pakistan
The higher educational institutes operating within the jurisdiction of the state of Pakistan fall under the ambit of the federal or provincial government, the armed forces of Pakistan, or private chartered institutes. The fee structure of the government or military-administered institutes is flexible to some extent and is considerably at par with the economic and financial status of aspirants hailing from a lower-middle- or middle-class segment of society.
However, these universities are ferociously competitive and tend to exhibit a very low acceptance rate that usually falls within the vicinity of single digits. These universities have failed to adopt a holistic approach when considering the admission applications of millions of prospective scholars.
Typically, in order to secure admission at an institute showcasing an above-par ranking and status, one has to appear for an admission test that is supposedly designed to examine the technical knowledge of an aspirant; however, it fails to do justice to the analytical skills and ingenuity of aspirants. Consequently, “extraordinary” aspirants manage to attain an enviable score that warrants their admission into their dream university based in Pakistan.
Non-existent Uniform Testing Mechanism
A universal testing service is virtually nonexistent in Pakistan, as different universities are inclined to accept scores of a test conducted by mutually exclusive testing services. A glaring example of this practice can be validated by the fact that a host of universities accept NAT or GAT scores conducted by NTS or ECAT, which was once synonymous with the SAT testing system that is considered a universal testing metric that can accurately test the skills of applicants and is quite dominant in the North American educational system, while queerly a partial majority of HEIs conduct their internal examination.
It is quite evident that a discrepancy exists between the metrics employed by different universities and those of secondary and higher secondary educational boards. The never-ending stress of failure in the entrance test examinations has daunting ramifications on the mental well-being of the applicants.
Discrepancy between the Global Ranking Mechanisms
A detailed examination of different international standards established by diversified independent bodies that decree the ranking of specific HEIs reveals that fluctuations exist between the evaluation methods, which range from faculty-to-student ratio and employment rate to the frequency of research papers published by the revered faculty members of an institute. It is quite distressing that the international bodies gauging the ranking of an institute have failed to devise a universal mechanism that can aid a free and transparent system.
Establishment of HEC: Rise of a New Era
The government of Pakistan, to regulate the higher education system, was established in 2002 under the stewardship of Dr. Atta ur Rehman. For once in Pakistan’s history, it seemed as if Pakistan’s predicaments associated with the higher education system would come to an abrupt conclusion. HEC, to its credit, managed to dole out sufficient finances and capital to higher educational institutes, and the overall infrastructure was modified, and numerous novel initiatives were undertaken to integrate technology and conventional educational systems.
Generous grants worth millions of rupees were awarded to promising students and scholars to receive higher educational qualifications from abroad, while employment opportunities and job security were conditional on the successful completion of a degree or educational qualification being funded by the HEC. The HEC during 2003-2008 upgraded existing universities and initiated the establishment of 78 universities, as per official estimates. Consequently, enrollment rates began to soar and reached a staggering figure of 316,278 in 2006-07 as compared to 183,000 in 2003-04.
The concept of distance or remote learning did indeed garner and gain traction in Pakistan during this era, and dreams finally manifested into reality when a virtual university was established in 2002 and exposed students to a level playing field and facilities enjoyed by their counterparts residing in developed nations. However, successive governments failed to bolster the advancements introduced by HEC during the chairmanship of Dr. Atta. Affairs at HEC took an unfortunate turn in the years to come, ranging from controversies to concerned individuals being marred by accusations of being inefficient and incompetent.
Gambling With the Futures of Millions!
The higher education system of Pakistan is riddled with predicaments, compounded due to successive ill-conceived policies drafted by power brokers occupying a supreme position within the higher echelons of the power corridors. Currently, 177 higher educational institutes encompass the four provinces of Pakistan, as per the HEC report. The status of these universities has been validated by the self-governing and autonomous regulatory body, the Higher Education Commission. However, there are hundreds of illicit universities operating under the watchful eyes of the HEC, that have been either blacklisted by the HEC or had their ability to award academic certifications curtailed by the entity.
However, these educational institutes continue to wreak havoc upon the future of millions of aspirants who pay millions and end up in limbo or a dark alley when the degree verification process is initiated by alumni of the aforementioned institutes. It seems as if a specific segment of the HEC works in tandem with the administration of the universities, posing a serious threat to the future of millions of scholars. The closure of an illegal tertiary educational institute falls within the jurisdiction of HEC, as per the judgment of the revered epic court of Pakistan.
Degree Verification Fiasco
The HEC became entangled in a scandal back in 2015, when Ahmed Norani published an article that raised fingers at the loopholes present within the spectrum and ambit of the HEC that facilitated the authentication and attestation of bogus degrees that were submitted by political aides inducted and employed against lucrative positions within government machinery and institutes.
To justify such politically motivated appointments, the degree verification mechanism was manipulated and altered overnight to justify the fact that various incompetent individuals were hired based on the golden universal law of ”merit.” The procedure was initiated after the Supreme Court released a judgment that warranted the fact that parliamentarians and professionals employed by public-sector entities were bound to get their educational qualifications verified by the HEC in February 2011.
The HEC endures to resist the calls and demands raised by candid and praiseworthy officials and employees and the public at large to permit a third party or entity to scrutinize and audit the SOPs employed by the degree validation chapter of the HEC, which speaks volumes about the incompetence of the HEC and its tendency to shape itself in tandem with the prerequisites of the educational system of the 21st century.
Axact Degree Mill Scam
In 2015, a furor and ripples were generated when “The New York Times” exposed a spurious online educational platform that featured degree-awarding higher and secondary educational institutes allegedly based in the US that purportedly awarded degrees to aspirants, and the mode of imparting education and skills was online.
Though the website targeted a prime audience hailing from demographic regions other than Pakistan, it carried out its grand heists from a grandiose campus rivaling that of a technology startup based in Silicon Valley. Ultimately, the surfacing of the report at a pivotal interval of time indeed manifested into insurmountable damage to Pakistan’s international credibility and interface. Though HEC was not actively involved in this scandal, an instance of verification of bogus educational credentials issued by fictitious educational institutes running under a pseudonym under the patronage of Axact emerged.
The Path Forward
A complete overhaul of the higher and secondary educational system of Pakistan is imperative and the need of the hour. Technically skilled individuals should be given a chance to improve the dire state of the higher educational sector. Our predicament can only be resolved by increasing the expenditure that the national exchequer spends on the higher educational sector. Though the dream of converting Pakistan’s reckless economy, which is based on antiquated principles, into a skill-based or knowledge economy is a far-fetched idea currently. However, I am adamant that in the future, this goal can be attained if the respective sector is reformed by providing a chance for individuals concerned to display prowess capable of uplifting the sector.
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