QAU Golden Jubilee seminar
Islamabad: By and large, higher education is wrongly considered in the country as a way to acquire employment and not widen vision.
This was stated by noted theoretical physicist Prof Fayyazuddin while addressing a seminar on the ‘State of Higher Education in Pakistan’ at the Quaid-i-Azam University. The event was organised as part of the Golden Jubilee Seminar series in connection with the 50th year celebrations of the university.
Prof Fayyazuddin said universities and the other higher education institutions were the fundamental source of learning and knowledge dissemination. He said without the rational aspect of knowledge being accorded due emphasis, intellectual growth was not possible.
“In the fabric of our society and with the ruling and powerful elite there is apathy towards the quest for knowledge and learning. Higher education in the country has been treated mainly as a means of acquiring and entry into the job market, rather than as a means for broadening the student vision and inculcating in them the spirit of specific inquiry,” he said.
The educationist said knowledge played a key role in the social, political and economic development of the West. He added that a wide spread access to secular knowledge was essential for bringing about a positive change in the country.
“It is the responsibility of the state to make this knowledge accessible to all sections of society by substantial investment in education. To take full benefit of globalisation of knowledge, investment in higher education is a must,” he said.
Prof Fayyazuddin said since the last decade, there had been a proliferation of universities in the country with most of them lacking adequate academic structure and proper faculty. He said the rest of the universities with the exception of few had a very weak intellectual and academic environment.
“It is imperative to strengthen academic and intellectual base. This is only possible when both the faculty and students participate with motivation, commitment and above all aspiration to be the part of process of generation of knowledge.”
The physicist said while indicating another challenge, that in the last decade, proliferation of research papers was also on the rise. A majority of these papers have not passed through the peer review process to access their quality and substance. The emphasis has been shifted from quality to quantity which has created a dangerous illusion of knowledge.
Suggesting the steps to enhance quality of education, he called for the moving away from memorisation, increasing the emphasis on understanding and analytical thinking and promoting basic and applied research even on the modest scale.
He said the industrial pollution posed a long-term threat to the natural environment which could adversely affect the quality of life. “The internet pollution poses a threat to the academic and intellectual environment and thus, badly impacting on the quality of knowledge,” he said.
Prof Fayyazuddin traced the history of the QAU and the ground breaking work carried out by his brother, the late Dr Riazuddin, himself and the team which were the brains behind the Centre for Physics and many academic and research laurals that earned the QAU great name ‘East of Suez.’
Earlier, chairman of Special Coordination Committee for 50 Years of QAU Dr. Farhan Saif briefed the audiences about purpose and details of the seminar series. QAU Vice Chancellor Dr. Javed Ashraf thanked Prof. Fayyazuddin and stressed upon the need for documenting QAU's history through the five decades, and for which illustrious personalities, such as Dr Fayyazuddin were most important. The VC lauded the efforts of organisers. A large number of students and faculty members attended the event.