The situation worsens when no one is ready to be accountable for their task and blames previous authorities
Muneer Ahmed Mirjat
Universities are places and spaces where highly educated people perform teaching and research tasks for various stakeholders including the overall well-being of the society. We generally assume that well-established infrastructure is sufficient for a University, yet, it is one of the requirements but the whole eco-system is composed of various institutional structures which function in a systematic way for achieving institutional objectives which are drawn from the Act/Charter or other legal framework.
Generally, public sector Universities are established to provide access to quality higher education for large group populations in that region but with the introduction of Blended and Online Learning same programs can be offered to students located in remote areas. All seems ideal on paper, however, in actual operations, it involves different departments of the University to carry out all these teaching and learning activities. A department is the main entity where all academic and research activities are carried out, it needs to fulfill all requirements for faculty, classrooms, laboratories (equipment, chemicals, etc.), library (books, journals, newspaper, etc.), furniture, audio-video tools, and sufficient staff as per University rules.
The University Rules and Regulations should embed all recommendations of the Government, HEC, relevant councils, international bodies, etc. In this regard, the relevant forum of the Universities from departmental committees to the senate or final approving authorities should be on board for approvals. After necessary approval, it should not be called HEC Policy, Council’s criteria, etc. The ownership is missing at some universities, they keep on calling it HEC Criteria, HEC Policy, etc. Such statements in various laws for a shift power to the HEC or other departments. Consequently, a clarification for an individual case is issued which is then copied by other Universities, and a few more queries surface, and a chain reaction starts without realizing that it is breaking the fabric of the institution. By shifting responsibility to HEC or other organizations, the various stakeholders start a blame game against it. Even in some cases where Universities can relax or consider appeals of students or faculty on medical, natural, or humanitarian grounds through their academic and administrative structures, are referred to HEC which is not in a position to decide any such appeal due to lack of information on the part of the University. In some cases, even Universities will refer appointment cases to HEC for guidance on the recommendation of their statutory bodies, although referrals can be done on strategic matters, not in operational matters.
Satisfaction of faculty is mainly linked with handsome salary, accommodation, medical and provision of transport facilities, etc.
The faculty is the main stakeholder identified by the task force for Higher Education in 2022, the appointment and promotion matter of faculty need to be carried out by the Universities on time. The HEC minimum guidelines are to be followed in respect of qualification, publication, and experience. It is observed that Universities have not raised any standard of their own with the approval of statutory bodies, they are relying on HEC minimum guidelines, and even, in some cases these are not met. Whenever there is a conflict, they immediately refer them to HEC which only be consulted for clarification purposes, not for decision purposes. The grievance mechanism should be in place for all various stakeholders i.e. students, faculty, and employees. The interesting thing is that HEC rarely receives any such issues from the private sector or highly ranked institutions. Can we conclude that they are governed in a better manner, or they are busy in teaching, research, and other relevant tasks or they will be fired/expelled if complained? This needs to be explored.
Satisfaction of faculty is mainly linked with handsome salary, accommodation, medical and provision of transport facilities, etc. Universities with effective financial management systems and with no or zero leakages can only retain quality faculty members in their teams. Universities with limited financial resources or poor financial management usually rely on contractual, visiting, or faculty on daily wages, who lack ownership and are less interested in helping for the long-term goals of the University. The total reliance on ad hoc faculty members destroys the teaching and learning environment in the University. Such faculty members spend only a few hours in the classroom and resultantly, student interaction is very limited on campus. It compels students to just rely on the lectures that are sometimes blended with personal, political, religious, and current affairs stories only. In a case, if there are permanent or dedicated faculty in the University, then sometimes a lack of research opportunities compels them to start investing their time in other activities like estate, stock, sale & purchase of vehicles, etc. just to be named a few.
Our potential in agriculture, manufacturing, education, and other domains is diminishing
The faculty and students would love to work at the University where basic infrastructure requirements are met. It is observed that buildings once built are not maintained for years and resultantly a pathetic work environment compels employees to seek better opportunities in other similar institutions. The situation worsens when no one is ready to be accountable for their task and blames previous authorities, political, regional, and other factors for bad or no performance. If the top-level management starts such a narrative, then every institutional structure will sing the same song without realizing that many great things happened without a single penny received as funding. It seems that the capitalist approach has eroded all inspirational, ethical, and moral values from our institutions. We are more becoming dependent on society with time, and our potential in agriculture, manufacturing, education, and other domains is diminishing which needs to be stopped at this stage. We can recover from the current state of affairs through consistent, collective, collaborative, and composed efforts in all disciplines of life. Leaders have to lead like leaders, not like Rockefellers.
_____________
Muneer Ahmed Mirjat is Director, Higher Education Commission Islamabad
