Pakistan is facing a challenge of the prevalence of influential and powerful people who try to violate merit and establish their personal control or their writ in the higher education institutions
By Muneer Ahmed Mirjat
Like other developing countries that are facing challenges related to practicing Merit in the Educational Institutions, Pakistan is also facing such a challenge, that is, the prevalence of influential and powerful people who try to violate merit and establish their personal control or “My Writ” in the institutions. People in positions of authority, whether in government, business, or other institutions, try to violate rules, merit, and influence the authority of institutions to unfairly favor themselves, their associates, and their interests.
There are multiple reasons for such behavior, primarily the ineffective rule of law in institutional affairs. Rules and laws are applied in our society in an uneven manner. People with wealth, status, and connections often act together. This enables the powerful to exert undue influence and propagate “My Writ” for different benefits, such as admissions, assessment, examinations, and employment. The situation worsens due to lack of access to justice, lack of accountability, and non-functional grievance mechanisms in the institutions.
The influential individuals in the institutions cultivate extensive patronage linkages with internal and external stakeholders, and they start favoring their followers and peers.
The presence of patronage networks in institutions is another main reason for the violation of the Merit. Organized groups, whether in the administrative arm of the university or among faculty members, try to obtain the maximum share of institutional services. Even students get organized for various reasons, such as fee waivers, relaxation in attendance, assessment, and support in examinations. Student groups are more vulnerable to use by Administration, Faculty, or even external actors for their designs, which is a completely unethical and unacceptable practice.
The influential individuals in the institutions cultivate extensive patronage linkages with internal and external stakeholders, and they start favoring their followers and peers. This helps them promote loyalty to support their future moves. Such practices, when continued for a long time, allow them to exercise their power and dominate institutional resources in all institutional affairs, such as admissions, assessment, appointment, promotions, educational trips, and other such financial opportunities. Consequently, merits and principles are routinely ignored, leaving no space for hardworking and professional people to contribute to achieving institutional objectives. In particular, such groups exist in some public sector universities and are more organized to safeguard their interests.
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Such continuous practices, when carried out for the long term without any checks and balances, will produce weaker institutions. Institutions such as universities or other public sector organizations will make decisions based on individual discretionary powers rather than institutional structures, as interest groups will not allow democratic decision-making due to the fear that their ‘My Writ’ will be challenged. In the long run, these practices provide opportunities for powerful vested interests to co-opt these institutions to serve narrow personal agendas, undermining merit, and good governance.
To develop a system where Merit is the priority, we need to strengthen institutional law, which is the Act or Charter in the case of universities. All institutional decisions were made through the prescribed rules and regulations. Any ambiguity in the execution of administrative, academic, or financial matters was cleared through the respective forum. The rationale and logic should prevail in decision-making. The autonomy of the institution should not be in the hands of individuals, such as administrative autonomy with registration, financial autonomy with director finance, or academic autonomy with the dean. All positions are accountable before the governing body of the university, and they are liable to make decisions as per rule.
The situation worsens due to lack of access to justice, lack of accountability, and non-functional grievance mechanisms in the institutions.
Another main factor for developing the culture of Merit in the Universities is to promote transparency and high standards of integrity in all academic processes, that is, Admission, Assessment & Examination, as well as appointment, promotion, and postings. This will help develop a good reputation for the institution. All stakeholders in the universities, that is, Faculty, Students and Staff, should be given access to decisions and implementation details made for different academic and administrative matters.
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The merit-based system can only be developed and maintained if people are appointed on Merit with clear objectives and criteria. They are given recognition or appreciation for better performance during their tenure. People feel offended when a selective approach is used for promotions and posts. This disturbs overall institutional health in terms of the commitment of good individuals because of the visible use of discretionary powers for various opportunities. It can be reduced by specifying clear rules, procedures, and parameters for decision making.
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Muneer Ahmed Mirjat is Director, Higher Education Commission, Islamabad
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