The Higher Education Commission (HEC) is asserting its power by exhorting universities to strictly follow the prescribed guidelines to ensure quality in the delivery of service.

Undoubtedly, the HEC has a point in evincing the concerns regarding quality, which is often blatantly compromised. MPhils and PhDs are being churned out in astonishingly large numbers and at a pace which is mind boggling. Most of the supervisors for PhD are wanting in the necessary skills even to publish in a good international journal.Phony characters have made their way into the HEC and influence decision-making to the great detriment of the thinned out cohort of genuine scholars.

Some mechanism is earnestly needed to distinguish between the spurious and the genuine.Many charlatans have come to inhabit the campuses of a large number of universities.Sub-standard research supervised by them has rendered the whole process of higher education an exercise in utter futility. At their behest,the stipulation that all locally produced PhD theses should be examined by experts from technologically advanced countries is flouted with impunity. China for instance, is a technologically advanced country, but its advancement in the field of social sciences and humanities, or even in theoretical sciences, is highly questionable. The same is the case for Malaysia and Turkey.

The ludicrous practice of facilitating favouriteacademics and denying even the slightest of what is due to a perceived ‘rival’ is rampant in higher education. The theses and dissertations of the favourites are sent to the countries mentioned above, where they are processed without any fuss or problem.This privilege, however, is not available to the ‘rival’ scholar.

Let me be specific here, the ‘perceived rival’is a figure that exists in every university. He has potential andcapability of replacing the incumbent from his privileged position, such as chairperson or head of department. In most academic departments of universities, there is only one person with the title of professor. He is also the ex officio head of the department. Thus the professor usually does his best to stall any impending aspirant for the position of a professor until the former is well within the sight of his pension.

To consolidate his position in the department, the incumbent does his best toresist any change. The maintenance of the status quo is an accepted policy. From among the ‘rivals’, if someone wants to pursue higher education — PhD, for example — his aspiration is thwarted through the selection of examiners known for their tough and uncompromising standards from top universities.

In principle, the legitimacy of such a practice cannot be questioned but the intentions are mala fide. Many bright young scholars decide to abandon academia because ofsuchpernicious practices.

An impartial review by senior academics from world’s top universities may help us to rectify this shambolic situation. It will incur expenditure but it will be for the better.

Besides, Pakistani universities should be encouraged to concentrate on invigorating the undergraduate programmes offered in various universities. Rigorous undergraduate programmes would give us a good marketable human resource, which at the moment is in short supply. Capable youngsters opt to head overseas in pursuit of greener pastures and tend to staythere, and local conditions and resources are not adequatefor those wishing to takeM.Phils and PhDs. Library facilities and supervisory personnel, in particular, are rarely of the required standard.

I will suggest that the National University of Singapore should be taken as a model as it can be replicated here. I have found it to be the best institution to train researchers.

The overwhelming majority of Masters and even PhD degree holders are wanting in basic analytical and communication skills. Equally worrying is the lack of political will and foresight among those entrusted with the task of making decisions. They are so enamored with number-crunching and with the quantity of students that the word ‘quality’ seems to have vanished from their vocabulary.

The proliferation of universities without proper future planning will only trivialiseuniversity education. It will be worthwhile if centres of excellence are established across the country and if they are accorded financial, administrative and academic autonomy. Education should be rigorous andsubsidised by the government at these centres of learning. Best possible teachers should to be hired. They should bewell paid so the academic profession becomes attractive for them.

It must be borne in mind that higher education is not for everyone. It is a privilege of the intellectual elite and it should be treated like that. It is not like school education which is the fundamental right of every citizen.

A focus on basic education of good quality is advocated here. The school system needs to be drastically reformed, especially thepublic sector schools. That can only be a viable source of bridging the socio-economic differences, which is a fundamental problem in contemporary Pakistan.

One reason for the deleterious situation in our universities is the poor foundations on which our students have to build. They manage to pass their exams through rote learning, and come to colleges and universities without proper grounding in the basics. With such a body of students, expecting universitiesto provide valuable instruction and be useful sites of knowledge-production is misplaced optimism.