Minister Atta-ur-Rahman on Model University ordinance
by Dr Shahid Siddiqui

posted December 15, 2002

"A lot of disinformation has been spread about the model university ordinance"

Teachers all over the country, especially in the public-sector universities, seem to be up in arms against the government's proposals to reform higher and university educatiuon. Dr Shahid Siddiqui speaks to federal minister for science and technology and education, Dr Atta-ur-Rahman, and asks him whether there is any justification for these protests

Q: Recently the government announced the establishment of a commission on higher education to replace the University Grants Commission (UGC). Is this going to be just a change in name? How is it going to be different from the UGC in terms of its working and performance?

A: The Higher Education Commission (HEC) is a totally different institution with different types of functions. The UGC was never a funding agency. It was just a post office, through which funds granted by the ministry of finance would be passed on to the universities. The HEC will be a pro-active body that will critically examine the situation in the universities and provide funding on a need-cum-performance basis. It will carry out the rating of all departments and institutions on the basis of a transparent set of criteria such as their research productivity, their performance compared on an international standard, and the number of grants won individually by a particular institution's scientists. So that is the first role of the HEC.

Secondly, it will be looking at satisfying those critical national education needs which at the same time will supplement our national long-term development plans. Not a single study has been carried out so far to determine the long-term needs of Pakistan in different disciplines. As a result, there is a large number of graduates and Ph.Ds. who are not often needed by the country. This creates joblessness and a lot of frustration. So there needs to be a clear link between our universities and our national requirements with emphasis on the fields which are critical for the development of Pakistan. Another role of the HEC is to come forward with the funding which is then based on institutional performance, individual performance and national requirements. We realize that making our education sector work with industry and agricultural programmes is vital for our national development.

Q: You have referred to need-driven education. What about subjects in social sciences and the humanities? Do you see any role for these subjects once the reforms are in place?

A: Absolutely. When I talk about needs I do not mean only science and technology. Economics, humanities, social sciences are integral parts of our national needs. These are the areas in which we are weak and they need to be strengthened. We need to have a balanced growth as far as our universities are concerned. We have already invited proposals from scholars in these disciplines for carrying out various projects.

Q: What are the major recommendations made by the task force regarding governance of universities?

A: The major recommendation of the task force was that there should be a separation between the governance and management of a university. At the moment it is all mixed together. There will be a board that will govern the university. The vice-chancellor will be the chief executive officer who will be responsible for the implementation of the decisions of the board. He will be answerable to the board. Presently the chancellor appoints the vice-chancellor. So, his appointment and dismissal is at the pleasure of the chancellor and there is a degree of instability in this system.

While the chancellor will still be the appointing authority, the VC will be appointed on the recommendations of a search committee comprising eminent professionals rather than the chancellor picking up a person at random. There is a lot of politicization in our system and there are political bodies that take advantage of this politicization to get into the university syndicate and senate. We need to prevent this from happening. Therefore, the new university ordinance proposes that professional representatives to these various bodies be nominated rather than elected by teachers' societies.

Q: Why do you think there has been such an adverse reaction in many public universities to recommendations of the task force?

A: I think a lot of disinformation has been spread about the model university ordinance. First of all, let me clarify that there is nothing, absolutely nothing, in the model university ordinance that talks about increasing fees. The fear that student fees are going to be drastically increased is totally unfounded. As long as I am the chairman of the HEC and responsible for looking after the universities, I assure the student community that I will not allow a substantial increase in fees. We would like to provide a lot of scholarships and additional financial support.

The second wrong piece of information being spread, by vested interests, is that the universities are going to be privatized and will be handed over to private sector institutions. There is nothing in the ordinance to this effect either. I believe strongly that public universities are the responsibility of the government and they should be funded by the government. Admissions should be on the basis of merit alone and not on the ability of parents to pay a certain amount of the fee. I would like to see that the public sector universities are fully funded and any little money they may earn from fees should be used to finance additional activities.

However, the basic requirement of funding must be met by the Government of Pakistan. The recurring and development budget for our universities was around Rs 4 billion and this has now been increased to about Rs 8 billion. An additional one billion rupees have also been allocated for new projects and programmes. The president has now increased this allocation to Rs 16 billion over the next two and a half years. Doubling the budget for higher education sector would mean more funds going to our universities. This should remove any apprehensions that fees are going to be increased or that a fee increase would be the basis of their operation once the reforms are in place.

Q: You have referred to disinformation and misconceptions regarding the ordinance. Does the government plan to clarify these misconceptions?

A: Yes, an article was published in Dawn recently which gives the broad outline of the HEC. There is also going to be a series of programmes on TV where this issue will be discussed and debated. Certain political parties have spread this disinformation which is totally baseless. You can look at my track record. I have set up new IT universities where the maximum fee is far less than what the private universities are charging.

Q: You have set up think-tanks in four different areas of education. How will you make sure that the action plans and schemes devised by these think-tanks are sustained and actually implemented?

A: After I took over as minister of education I said that the first thing we must do is to take a strong look at where we presently stand. The situation is dismal and our educational standards are pathetic. We have not moved forward because we have been living in a world of our own where we thought every thing was right, whereas most of the things were wrong. So, that should be our starting point: a realization that most of the things have deeply gone wrong in our education sector and there is an urgent need to do major surgery. When I thought about the situation, I realized that in our country there are some educational institutions in the private sector that provide quality education and we can use their advice.

So, four permanent think-tanks have been formed. They will not be dissolved once I am not minister. The idea is that they should meet regularly, give recommendations and their each recommendation should be tied up with an action plan that should be time-bound and money-bound. They should prioritize their work to remain realistic. We should take some key areas. For instance, teacher training could be one high priority area that I think is extremely important. They should progressively move forward in implementing a plan and constantly act as a review body or a monitoring body to see whether the recommendations are implemented properly by the government. The government sector is notorious for its inefficiencies and for its slow movement and it is important to have clear and blunt advice. We hope that these think-tanks will provide the necessary inputs regularly.

Q: In your introductory speech to the joint meeting of the think-tanks on education you put a lot of emphasis on improving the quality of education? What is your concept of quality education?

A: First of all, we need to ask ourselves what are we expecting from our education systems. Are we expecting top quality engineers and social scientists? When we say top quality what do we really mean by that? The first point that I made in that meeting was that what I expect out of a quality system is good human beings with a well-rounded education. They should have the necessary tools with them to be able to address the problems of life in an intelligent fashion. That involves unleashing the creativity our students have. This can be done by developing in them an approach to question what they are taught as opposed to blindly accepting everything and reproducing it in exams. This is the real challenge.

Another aspect is how to make our educational standards comparable or compatible with the international standard. In Islamabad we have model schools and so-called government schools. I have asked the ministry of education to come out with a plan that raises the standard of all the government schools and brings it at par with the model schools. This includes hiring quality teachers and giving them better educational facilities and salaries so that the fragmentation we have introduced ourselves can be plugged. I hope that these minimum criteria for quality that we have laid down are followed in the provinces.

The second project to improve quality is to bring our education system at par with the A-level and O-level system of education. This programme is now being developed.

Q: One problem that teachers and professors have to deal with is low salaries and a low social status. Does the government have any plans to introduce some incentives for teachers?

A: If I were asked what is the single most important factor in determining the quality of education, be it at the primary or university level, I would say teachers. Their competence and ability determine the quality of education. We need to send the best of our students into teaching. For this we have to give them financial awards. I have asked the ministry of education to arrange examinations for teachers on voluntary basis. These examinations could be based on the GRE (Graduate Record Examination test, carried out by US-based Education Testing Service) subject or general test. Those who qualify will be given a qualification or 'competence' allowance of three thousand rupees per month.

We have already introduced a research productivity allowance in higher education. At the same time, I have asked the ministry of education that in the schools where students score high marks, teachers should be given financial benefits. Similarly, in schools where students consistently perform very poorly for a number of years, the concerned teachers should be sacked. We need to have an award and accountability system.

Q: With the generous policy of the government, a number of charters are being granted for new universities? The new universities set up their branches in different cities and start giving affiliations to other, in some cases, substandard institutions. Is their any way to ensure that this does not compromise the quality of the education being imparted?

A: In Pakistan there has been an unfortunate mushroom growth of so-called universities which are not even low-level colleges. We are just fooling ourselves by calling them universities. These institutions need to be closed because they are not providing quality education and at the end of the day students and parents are paying money for getting absolutely nothing.

The cabinet has laid down certain guidelines and conditions and has given private universities five years to come up to these criteria. This includes having a certain number of Ph.Ds on the faculty, a certain amount in endowment funds, and the minimum limits in terms of physical space and facilities. Unless the universities get their act right, their charters will stand withdrawn after this notice period runs out.

So, the writing is very much on the wall. We do not need new universities. We need better quality education. Our focus must be on strengthening our existing institutions to the point where they could genuinely be called universities.

Q: In the wake of the changing global environment, do you intend to review and reposition your stance with reference to information technology (IT)?

A: The IT bubble certainly burst last year. This happened because stocks of some IT and technology companies were overpriced. Therefore, some share prices had to go down and collapsed. Many IT professionals in the US and Europe lost their jobs. This phase is however over and now there is again resurgence in this field. Share prices are again on the rise as are job opportunities. It needs to be understood that information technology is here to stay. It is embedded in almost every sphere of our activity, be it agriculture, industry, medicine, defence or education. It plays, and will continue to play, an increasingly dominant role.

I think information technology is often confused with software development. IT is not about software development. Its uses are multi-faceted and they are going to grow. So, if any thing, the emphasis on information technology must be increased and it must be widened.

Q: But there is a growing concern about unemployment in this industry?

A: There has been a concern regarding jobs in information technology. We must understand that the IT universities we have set up will start producing graduates within four to five years. As for those already in the IT job market, government-led projects like the move towards 'E-governance' will mean more opportunities for employment. So the fear of unemployment is wrong.

Q: Now, a new government will be installed. How will you make sure that the proposed educational reforms are continued?

A: In the cabinet we have extensively discussed reforms in many different sectors. We believe that there are certain areas - and education is one of these areas - where we need not start from ground zero. The government took some measures to make continuity possible in education.

Firstly, most of the programmes that have been approved have a timeframe of three to four years. Secondly, we have put a strong team of professionals in the ministry who will continue to function there even after the new government is in place. Thirdly, I have been appointed chairman of the Higher Education Commission for the next four years. I hope that these measures will make it possible to sustain the reforms of the present government in the education sector.

from http://www.dawn.com/weekly/education/education.htm