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One unintended consequence of the Eighteenth Amendment perhaps is that the 139 year old prestigious art institution known as the National College of Arts is now struggling to stay as a symbol of federation. The rumour that the institution will be devolved to Punjab has drawn a strong reaction from everybody affiliated with it.
After the Eighteenth Amendment was unanimously passed by the parliament in April 2010, many ministries and departments were devolved to the provinces including the education ministry which was constitutionally the parent department of NCA since 1972.
The biggest reservation on the proposed devolution of NCA is that it would ruin the "federal character" of the institution, referring to the quota system put in place here. "In a federal institution, students have a rightful claim on the quota. Even if the Punjab government decides to retain it in some manner, it will be more as a charity and not as right," says a senior teacher.
NCA allocates seats for all provinces and regions in accordance with the policy of the federal government. Students come from Punjab, Sindh, Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), Gilgit-Baltistan (GB), Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and Azad Jammu and Kashmir.
As per the defined quota, each degree course includes 50 per cent students from Punjab, 20 per cent from Sindh, 10 per cent from KP, five per cent each from FATA and AJK, seven per cent from Balochistan, and three per cent from GB. Currently, the total degree-course strength of NCA is around 1200; this means no less than 600 of them represent different regions other than the Punjab.
Following the Eighteenth Amendment, NCA’s control was handed over to the Inter Provincial Coordination Ministry and was then given to the Cabinet Division. After the abolition of Education Ministry at the federal level, the chairman Board of Governors of NCA is none other than the prime minister himself.
The college itself is determined to remain with the federal government. It is a desire shared by the students, staff and thousands of alumni of the college serving at important places in different spheres of life.
In a meeting organised by the Inter Provincial Coordination Ministry to discuss devolution of different departments and units held in January 2013, one of the concerned additional secretaries of Cabinet Division told the ministry they would have no objection if the Lahore and Rawalpindi campuses of NCA were devolved to the Punjab province.
NCA was established as the Mayo School of Art in 1875, along with LahoreMuseum, with the intention to have a centre that served the requirements of the museum by preserving and patronising the crafts of Punjab. This was twenty four years after the Great Exhibition of 1851 in London.
John Lockwood Kipling was made the curator of the LahoreMuseum and principal of the Mayo School of Arts. His vision and genuine regard for indigenous art allowed the crafts of the region to sustain at a time when they were under siege in industrialised Britain.
In 1958, the MayoSchool was restructured by the Government of Pakistan as National College of Arts. Professor Mark Ritter Sponenburg (1916-2012), an expert in art and design education and a great agent of change, was made the principal. In 1963, the government recognised NCA as a premier art institution of Pakistan and a Board of Governors was formed under the provincial education ministry till 1972, after which it became a federal institution. It also had quota of East Pakistan till then.
In 1985, the college was granted a degree awarding status. In 1999, NCA started a two years Masters in Visual Arts and in mid 2011 the then Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani announced to give NCA a federal university status.
The Cabinet Division policy is kind of contradictory as it allows some other institutions and organisations to remain with federal government, a document available with The News on Sunday reveals. The secretary held that Tobacco Control Cell, another unit under federal government, could not be devolved to the provinces due to its "international obligations". Provinces would have to arrange funds for the institutions transferred to them, the document reads.
Importantly, the federal government as a policy to patronise art and culture has already taken the decision not to devolve Lok Virsa and Pakistan National Council of Arts (PNCA).
The Punjab government’s Higher Education Department, following the decisions of Inter Provincial Coordination Ministry, a few weeks back, sought the opinion of NCA on budgetary matters, assuming that it would be taking over the college in the coming days. At the same time, according to some reports, the Prime Minister of Pakistan Mian Nawaz Sharif in a recent meeting has given the commitment that the institution shall not be devolved. However, it is said to be just a verbal commitment and nothing formal or written.
People who are in favour of retaining it in the federal domain say that all art institutions established in the country, whether in public or private sector, have been initiated by the alumni of the NCA. It is known as "the mother of all art institutions" in Pakistan. The continuation of its present status as a "national institution" shall provide an example to be emulated in the desire to achieve excellence in arts education.
"We are not keen to take over the NCA. We don’t want to intrude in NCA’s autonomy or structure," says Tariq Mahmood Khan, secretary of Punjab government’s Higher Education Department. "We are only following the minutes of the Cabinet Division and Inter Provincial Coordination Ministry meeting."
Mahmood says the department has also sought NCA’s opinion on the subject and nothing is final yet. "The final decision would be taken by the Punjab chief minister."
The student body, representing the entire Pakistan and comprising extremely diverse socio-economic backgrounds, ethnic identities, ideological positions, languages and cultural traditions is the hallmark and strength of NCA. The students, staff and alumni of NCA are deeply concerned about the news of the college being devolved to the province. They are opposed to this move. They feel that institutions take time to develop and reach a certain standard of excellence. An already established institution like NCA, developing on the foundations laid over more than a century ago and in line with its charter as a national centre of excellence, provides equal opportunity for students from varied backgrounds and various regions to be exposed to the very best, they say.
Principal Dr Murtaza Jafri only reiterates this when he says: "Students coming from different cultures across Pakistan as a result of quota system is the beauty of NCA." He says these students are freely expressing themselves creatively on the best platform in the country and they are not dependent on any province for this. "Its federal character practically brings all cultures of Pakistan under one roof," he says.
"As a federal institution, NCA can continue to serve as an example and become the nucleus for the development of other art institutions in the various regions of the country in the years to come," says a senior teacher.
As the pool of talent in art education is rather limited, NCA has attracted the best talent in the form of faculty from all over the country. In a federal institution, students coming from all over the country do not feel beholden to any province when entering its portals; rather consider it their very right. It does not hurt their dignity. This diversity promotes deeper national integration, harmony and understanding by a fusion of rich and diverse cultural traditions. They claim equal ownership and consider themselves to be stakeholders in the best institution that the majority province has to offer, thus overcoming any sense of deprivation or backwardness.
It should remain with the federal government and rather elevated to the status of a federal university. It can gradually become a springboard for launching similar institutions in other federating units of the country.
