Before the Students’ Solidarity March held on November 29, which called for the restoration of student unions and demanded reduction in tuition fees, among other reforms, inaction prevailed on the education front throughout the year.

The movement for the restoration of student unions was spearheaded by Progressive Students’ Collective, a body of young people imbued with idealism to dismantle the ramshackle edifice of the status quo in the realm of higher education.

What they do not realise is that with the restoration of student unions, right-wing factions and groups are likely to have a field day. They have a numeric majority and are far more organised than those subscribing to left-liberal ideals.

In the past, student politics on campuses was orchestrated by political leadership at the national and provincial levels. Unfortunately, the liberal-left opinion is not reflected in politics, neither at the provincial nor the national level. If student unions are restored, a strong likelihood for various religious groups to assert and consolidate their respective positions seems inevitable.

The prime minister has showed his willingness to restore student unions with some regulatory framework and the Sindh government has prepared a bill to restore the unions. Having said that, with the benefit of hindsight, the Progressive Student’s Collective is advised to reconsider its strategy and not entertain any illusions that its success and media momentum generated by it might have created. They will not have any substantial gain in case student unions are reinstated. They are not organised and have little room to maneuver in the preponderance of right-wing ideologies.

The restoration of student unions will benefit the student arm of the Jamaat-i-Islami, particularly in the Punjab. The Islami Jamiat-i-Tulaba holds sway over many institutions, like the Punjab University, where the current administration is positively disposed towards the IJT. One should not rule out that it may bounce back in the University of Engineering and Technology and other institutions, too.

Elsewhere, during the year, a few ripples seemed to disturb the otherwise calm surface of higher education in the country when the budgetary allocation for higher education was subjected to a relentless squeeze. The ‘imported’ chairman of the higher education commission was blamed for the cut. That seems to be his only contribution since his appointment.

It is, indeed, unfortunate that the good work initially done by Dr Attaur Rehman has not been continued by his successors. The current chairman is accused of not listening even to academics with an international reputation, and often dismissing them without hearing their suggestions.

The present government is persisting with the policies of the previous governments when it comes to neglecting higher education. Mostly, university teachers with hardly any insight into the affairs of higher education have pervaded the HEC. Some of its chairmen too have not been among the exceptions.

One cannot even put these officials in the bracket of technocrats of any considerable merit, either. Therefore, the fact that no structural reform (or improvement) has ever been initiated by the HEC, is understandable. With the devolution of powers encapsulated in the 18^th Amendment, its role has become complicated because higher education has become a provincial subject. The devolution of education to the provinces will be the subject of another column.

The situation is marked with monotony in the Punjab and it appears that the concerned authorities have not even thought of a departure from past practices. The number of secretaries who have come and left the department seems to indicate a state of utter apathy bordering on repulsion.

Some clumsy attempt was made early this year to overhaul higher education and some ‘imported’ individual masquerading as an academic (I hear he was hired by a prime institution of higher learning in the private sector) was put in charge of the whole exercise. But after the lapse of almost a year, nobody has any clue about what became of the recommendations of the numerous committees formed at the Punjab HEC. It seems likely that it was all a deception.

Similarly, in an act that will have long-reaching impact, several appointments of vice chancellors were made without reforming the policy adopted by Shahbaz Sharif’s government. The person who was made convener of the search committees constituted for the selection of vice chancellors in the Punjab has a dubious reputation as an administrator of a leading educational institution. As an academic, he does not have any reputation to speak of.

Recently, a massive scam surfaced in the media as the administration of GC University was accused of embezzlement to the tune of $7 million in recruitments to Abdus Salam School of Mathematics. The person selecting vice chancellors was the vice chancellor when that school was established and the director was appointed by him.

In view of these failings of stupendous proportions, it seems extraordinarily suspicious why someone with a reputation as a vindictive administrator was asked to perform such a crucial role. The Punjab Higher Education has a new chairman as well. His transformation from being the vice chancellor of the University of Engineering and Technology, Lahore, where obviously he did not leave behind much of a legacy, will be interesting to watch.

The sad fact is that when the Punjab Higher Education Commission was established, it was seen as a competitor for finances and influence by officials of the Higher Education Department. Ever since, the distribution of responsibilities and resources has caused bickering between these two bodies. The challenge for any administrator is to make these two bodies function amicably and in tandem with each other.

The Punjab government needs to pay special attention and care to how it manages this situation. One may suggest the re-constitution of an education department in which various segments like school education, higher education and special education (that also includes literacy) are linked with one another, while keeping their own identity intact.

While talking about education reform, the medium of instruction and uniformity of curriculum are the most daunting of challenges confronting the current government. In Pakistani society in which class differentiation is deeply entrenched, to wish for uniformity is nothing more than living in a fool’s paradise.

Federal Minister Shafqat Mehmood showed genuine concern while referring to the difference between the educational systems operating in Pakistan, where a student from a madrassa and one from some decent English-medium school cannot hold a conversation as equals. In such a situation, drastic measures will have to be taken to enforce the same medium of instruction.

Uniformity in the education system can hardly be practised in such a diverse society as Pakistan. In fact, such uniformity might strengthen the right-wing ideological position, given the nurturing it has received from every corner for the last four decades. Uniformity in education is usually attainable in states and societies having a singular ethnicity with the same historical experience. In the entire 2019, no progress in this direction was made which is understandable.

School education is as poorly managed as before. Secondary education boards are in a deplorable state and there is no strategy in place to improve their functioning. Political parties must have some inkling of the scale of intricacies involved in the prevailing situation, before formulating their election slogans. They must not say what they cannot do.