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Dr Alvi for teachers respect and good salary

By Our Correspondent
June 20, 2019

Islamabad: While agreeing to some extent with the perception that the quality of teachers in the country has deteriorated over the years, National University of Computer and Emerging Sciences (FAST-NU) Rector Dr M Ayub Alvi blames the problem on a lack of respect for educators and low payments to them.

While seeking due respect in society and good salary for teachers, Dr Alvi called for the regular faculty evaluation by all universities to ensure the provision of quality education to students.

“The phenomenon of permanent job is also part of the problem. If a permanent teacher has a capacity issue and doesn’t follow modern ways of teaching, then even if you increase salary considerably, he or she will continue to struggle to deliver the goods. In this light, I recommended the annual evaluation of teachers for the incentivisation of only those, who perform well. This will further the cause of education,” he said.

The FAST-NU rector agrees that most Pakistani universities produce PhDs, who are of no use. He, however, said his university’s PhD programme was well-recognised.

“Compared to other universities, we may have produced few PhDs (around 70) during the last 15 years but most of them are holding key positions in higher education institutions like head of department and deans, which speak volumes for the quality of our programme,” he said.

Dr Alvi said that education in the private sector hadn’t become costlier over the years. “Both good public and private universities spend almost the same amount of money on the courses they offer to students but that’s not so evident because the government largely helps the former meet expenses, while the latter have to manage everything from land acquisition to campus establishment to faculty payments to other expenditure on their own. In this way, what we, the private universities, charge students is the true cost of education,” he said.

The FAST-NU rector said the university accepted no influence for appointments and admissions, and managed all its affairs purely on merit and transparently. He also said with a limited budget at its disposal, his educational institution hired the best possible faculty members to produce skillful youths, who later made their mark in their respective fields within the country and abroad.

“We have the best working environment in the country with staff members, especially teachers, being given the respect they deserve, so few employees leave us,” he said, adding that the students also consider the university’s learning atmosphere to be excellent.

Dr Alvi said with campuses in Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad, Peshawar, and Chiniot-Faisalabad, over 11,000 students and over 500 faculty members, the FAST-NU was known for quality education and production of manpower for software and other industries.

He said the university’s research wings were recognised nationally and internationally as they focused on cutting-edge research, which had a direct impact on the country’s social, economic and technological needs.