Instead of establishing a comprehensive university, a better solution would be to invest in the upgrading of existing educational and infrastructural facilities
Engr. Mujtaba Hassan
A proposal to merge all existing public sector higher education institutions and campuses in Larkano into a single comprehensive university has been circulating since a couple of months.
The proposal on the subject mentioned above, was moved by the Pro-Vice Chancellor of Larkano Campus of University of Sindh to the Sindh government’s Department of Boards and Universities, and subsequently a meeting was held at the department on March 3, 2023, chaired by the minister Ismail Rahu.
The Department of Boards and Universities, in a letter dated April 6, 2023 addressed to the Vice Chancellor, University of Sindh, conveying him the decision of the meeting had requested to immediately initiate the feasibility study of proposal for creating a general and comprehensive university with the name of ‘University of Larkano’ by integrating all the existing public sector higher education institutes and campuses. The Vice Chancellor was requested further to submit the report to the department as soon as possible so that necessary measures could be taken.
However, in my view, the individual campuses are decisive for providing quality education, stuffed with specialized facilities, faculty, and resources of their own. Integrating all the campuses, with the same backdrop, under one roof may confront challenges of quality education and bulky administration, resulting in bureaucratic delays in decision-making and logistical challenges in providing adequate resources.
Instead of establishing a comprehensive university, a better solution would be to invest in the upgrading of existing educational and infrastructural facilities in each department while maintaining their campus status. Relatively, existing campuses should be equipped with specialized resources, investing in faculty development programs, teacher training, the recruitment of highly qualified faculty, and non-teaching staff for efficient management. The investment would result in fruitful outcomes in the future.
To overcome the vulnerability of the region in terms of quality education, the proposal to merge all public sector higher education institutions and campuses in Larkano into a single comprehensive university should be reconsidered. To maintain the streamline, the proposed budget should be initiated with the provision of quality education by the individual campuses.
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Engr. Mujtaba Hassan is Bachelor and Masters in Civil Engineering having specialization in Construction Management
