Shamsh Kassim-Lakha served as Pakistan's Minister of Education, Science & Technology in the caretaker government in 2007-8. He currently chairs the board of Pakistan Centre for Philanthropy and sits on the board of Higher Education Commission of Pakistan (HEC).
He headed the committee that recommended reforms in higher education in 2001-02, leading to the creation of HEC. Lakha is the Founding President of the Aga Khan University. He is Senior Distinguished Fellow at the Munk School of Global Affairs, University of Toronto and consults for the World Bank and Grameen Bank. In recognition of his services he has received Sitara-e- Imtiaz in 1998 and Hilal-e-Imtiaz in 2002.
Policymakers dabbling with education reforms and devolution - particularly that of the Higher Education Commission - may be able to emulate some of the ideas from a source long known for his institutional and reform acumen: Shamsh Kassim Lakha.
In his career spanning 50 years; Lakha led the team that built and operated the Aga Khan University and its teaching hospital literally from scratch, orchestrated the higher education reforms that led to the creation of the HEC in 2002, and wrote environmental laws that were later adopted by the UN as a model policy framework, amongst many other feats. (See box for his profile).
His concerns regarding the HEC and devolution of higher education are valid and necessitate extremely careful planning on the part of mandarins. His view on devolution: "don't fix that which is not broke - and if you must have devolution, then devolution must be done systematically, and it should be done with an analytical approach."
Stressing that he is not against devolution Lakha contended that there is value to devolution, "but there should be a sensible approach". "I am not saying that devolution should not take its place; I am saying that in the case of HEC you need to go a step by step process", he told BR Research, in an in-depth interview held before the apex court issued a stay order on HEC's devolution.
The former member of the pay and pension reforms committee said it took eight years for the HEC reforms to begin showing results under the federal government; in the provincial government it will take longer, because it takes time for people to understand what it takes to reform an elaborate institution that deals with the complex issues of higher education.
"To ensure that the baby is not thrown out with the bath water, we should not blindly stick to provincialism, which pre-supposes that what can be done in the central government can be done in the provincial government. It can be done, but it will take time," he said. Lakha fears that the abrupt and ill-planned devolution of HEC will hamstring its fruits. "To think that the federal government will now give money, which was to be distributed through the HEC to the universities in the provinces, I think is a myth," he said.
So what should be the way forward for HEC? "Since it has become such a big controversy, the best way out for the government is to sit with the stakeholders and build a political viewpoint. Nobody is denying the importance of devolution; but there is a way of devolving and there is an approach to each type of devolution," said Lakha. According to industry sources, there had been no consultations with any of stakeholders before March 10, 2011 - the date when the federal government made the decision to lop off the umbilical cord between itself and the HEC.
Sources added that the chairman of the senate's standing committee on constitutional reforms had earlier stated that HEC is part of the federal list, so there shouldn't be anything to worry about. But then, like most things whimsical in the country, the government changed its stance - perhaps because of political compulsions.
However, instead of rushing to part ways with the HEC, two things should have been ensured, according to Lakha: "The federal government should have decided to provide the research money; and to provide the capacity building costs". He added that even if the HEC is devolved, there will be a need for a co-ordinating body amongst the provinces.
"Even in India which is so devolved, the federal government has a body for higher education at the centre; there is secretary for higher education within the ministry of human resources, and the central government actually funds many higher education initiatives in the states," he pointed out.
MEMORY VS UNDERSTANDING Lakha explained that the function of the co-ordinating bodies for higher education should be to both facilitate research, and review the curriculum particularly in the professions. For this purpose, and for capacity building, it must provide Federal funds.
"This is particularly important for school-level education now that this too has been completely devolved and the Ministry of Education wound up. I am not saying approval of syllabus, because each province can add or reduce a little from the syllabus depending on its local needs and circumstances; but you need to have a sharp review of the text books," he said.
Besides textbooks, the real transformation must come in the way the students are being examined. "The biggest reform that you can bring about is in the examination system, which is why I strongly advocated the introduction of the Aga Khan Examination Board which finally became a reality and which uses the National Curriculum as its basis," he said.
If the examination requires a student to memorise, which sadly is the case at present, then a teacher will make sure that he/she inculcates rote learning from that one single textbook or class notes. "And you can't entirely blame the teachers for it, because the examination is only asking for recall capacity; they are neither asking for application of knowledge nor understanding of knowledge," he contended.
Lakha highlighted that many schools simply require reading of a single text book, and the examination system requires students to regurgitate that knowledge, whereas in developed countries, there are school and public libraries and the students are required to look for knowledge. There is no reason why every public school should not have at least a small library where students are required to read more than their single text book to search for knowledge. He stressed the need to start reforming the examination system now: "Examination reforms across all level of education may take more than five years, but steps must be taken today."
SECONDARY LEVEL EDUCATION
Similar to his proposals for higher education, Lakha believes there should be some form of a co-ordination body between the provinces and the centre, where the federal government should not be allowed to rule and instead works by consensus.
"The purpose of such a body in the centre should not be to lay down the rules, but instead it should work very closely with the provinces and together they should evolve a core curriculum," he opined. This is a practice in many countries including industrialised ones. He proposed that the body should have the powers of a collegial nature, and mechanism has to be developed for its smooth functioning.
He pointed out that this is also necessary to keep national cohesion and harmony by keeping a check on 'nationalistic tendencies' within provinces that, for instance, may entice provincial ministries to reinterpret history, according to what suits them.
"We also have to make sure that provinces don't stop recognising the school-leaving certificate of any other provinces. Unless there is such a co-ordinating mechanism, there is genuine risk of this happening," he said. "Set aside local universities; how will foreign universities see the provincial school-leaving certificates in case any province stops recognising that of another Pakistani province. You can't expect any foreign university to accept the certifications of your candidate, when your own provinces are having a tussle," he spelled out his fears.
Offering a potential solution to ensure that the poor have access to middle class private schools, Lakha suggested that the government can give education vouchers, of Rs 500/month for example, so the children can attend their neighbourhood schools.
"You won't be able to en-cash the voucher; you can only give it to the school that will teach your child," he explained. "The headmaster, the school committee and the teachers of these schools will then make sure that more vouchers come their way, following which more revenues can even help them build a library or a laboratory," he added citing the success of this model in Punjab province.
CHANGES IN SCHOOLING SYSTEM
"An education-apartheid in this country has been created by having Urdu medium schools, English schools; and then you have these A-level and O-level schools versus matriculation and intermediate. And then within the private schools we run different streams," said Lakha.
"The best way to teach any kid is in their mother tongue when they start off. And when I say mother tongue, it is not automatically Urdu which is our national language but which is also the mother tongue of a small part of Pakistan's population; we have to teach in Sindhi, Punjabi, Pashto, Balochi, etc and we have to accept pluralism," he asserted while proposing a gradual introduction of English after second or third grades.
He pointed out that children have the capacity to learn two or three languages in the early years without much trouble at all, adding that this would in fact make the students more well-rounded and well groomed individuals.
"The more we think about diversity and respect it; the better it is for the country...and devolution is one step in that direction because it will allow Sindhis, Balochis, Punjabis and Pushtoons to do things their way," he said. Commenting on the maddarasa system, Lakha said it would not be wise to do away with Madrassas. It is a system that has worked for 1400 years, it's not going to go away and it is a waste of energy to try doing that. The question is, how can we have madrassas impart much-needed religious education while being brought as close to the mainstream as possible," he remarked.
"If a madrassa student has no knowledge of the secular world, how can they earn a long-term livelihood and be productive citizens? Of course they can teach at seminaries and become pesh imams but how many madrassa graduates can be employed in this manner?" he noted.
In this context, he suggested that important lessons can be drawn from the Indonesian experience. "They have a ministry of education, and they have a ministry of religious education but the latter works to ensure that secular subjects like mathematics, languages, science are taught," he said.
Similar is the case in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and other parts of Africa, where a teacher resource center for madrassa educators was created some 25 years ago; the teachers were sent for further training and in turn they returned and trained others. "The idea is that we shouldn't do away with madrassas; instead help them, help their teachers, just as Indonesia and Africa have done," he stressed.
Yet in the final analysis, perhaps the biggest reform that is needed is in the minds and hearts of the people - changing which will be no less than a herculean task. "Today the mindset of Pakistanis is that there is only 'one way' to look at things...we never encourage critical thinking. Fortunately, with the media now enjoying greater freedom and becoming more active, we are seeing a welcome change in this regard. But even in the media one sees that all the talk that goes on air is very directional, not very analytical -- it is polemic because, sadly, we think we know the final answer," he said.
Indeed, that is a most dangerous mindset of all
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