Provincial Higher Education Minister, Syed Raza Ali Gillani, said on Thursday that universities should get their programs recognized from the Punjab Higher Education Commission before starting admissions. He was addressing a seminar on 'Challenges of Higher Education in Punjab: Role of Private Sector Universities'. He said universities should not start any program which is not recognized by PHEC as it would dent the future of students.
He said the government is ready to solve the problems of both public and private sector universities. The government will distribute 5000 laptops among the students of private universities, he added. Gillani said both the higher education department and the Punjab Higher Education Commission are striving together to improve the level of higher education in the province.
The universities should focus on quality of education rather than quantity, he suggested. He claimed that some of our universities may be ranked among the top 500 universities of the world. He said if any university of the country secures a place in QS ranking it would be an honor for the country.
Speaking on the occasion chairperson Punjab Higher Education Commission (PHEC) Dr Mohammad Nizamuddin said that Punjab Education Statistics reveal the number of students enrolled in Degree Awarding Institutes (DAI)'s of Punjab (Public & Private) is 542,902 out of which only 92,150 students are enrolled in the private sector.
The data reveals that though 43 percent of the provincially chartered DAIs in Punjab is from the private sector, they cater to only about 20 percent of the student population enrolled. Therefore, the DAIs in private sector need not only to be streamlined but also need to be encouraged to provide coverage to remote areas of the Punjab province in order to have greater impact and contribute more effectively to the higher education sector.
He said some of the private sector universities are offering multiple disciplines instead of focusing on specialized disciplines due to which quality is being compromised; and added among the challenges of higher education, it is important to address the issues fueling student's unrest. The condition of higher education in private sector DAIs is not satisfactory in the eyes of students due to unapproved programs and departments and faculties of some of the DAI's, Dr Nizam said and added that the right of academic freedom must be recognized in order to enable the faculty members, researchers, and students to carry on their roles.
He said that it is imperative to ensure freedom of universities in making professional appointments, tenure research, salary scales, and all academic decisions. Academic freedom and university autonomy are sometimes regarded as synonymous, but they are two quite different concepts, although they overlap at many points, he further added.
Dr Nizam said that the courses and curricula are not designed in accordance with the standards of higher education of the present day. There is no continuity of some of the important courses; and there is also no relationship between the related courses of common or similar knowledge, he said and added that so many important and modern courses required for higher education are not taught at all. The curricula are not written in detail and are left to the professor's personal likes, dislikes, interests or experience, he added.
Nizam said that in sense of employment, private sector DAIs are handicapped in the assessment of the actual labour market needs for skills in various sectors of the economy. Dr Nizam suggested that there is a need for laying proper foundation for advanced studies in science, engineering, agriculture, and those other areas most closely allied to the economic development.
He said there is a need for adaptation of a multidimensional, flexible, and dynamic education system, which serves people according to their ability and aptitude and is responsive to their economic, social political and cultural needs.
He also said fees structure should be affordable. Economic conditions of the people cannot be ignored in all matters in which the question of equal opportunities to all is involved. In an atmosphere of economic depression as it is today in Pakistan how could one expect from our youth to be able to develop their potential qualities in desired way.
Chairperson HEC said that the teaching method must be made more rational and natural; and last of all, the teachers must be kept fully satisfied. There is great question of availability of qualified university teachers, suitably equipped libraries, and fully developed plants and laboratories.
He also said higher education institutions must be responsive to the challenges of the rapidly changing and challenging new world; expectation of society and growing demands of the rising student population. Private Sector DAIs has capacity to cater to the needs of the society, he added.