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Distinguished
Lecture
By Shamsh Kassim-Lakha H.I., S.I.
at the
University of Health
Sciences, Lahore
Bismillah-Ir-Rahman-Nir-Rahim!
Vice-Chancellor
of the University of Health
Sciences, Professor Mubbashar Hilal-i-Imtiaz, Sitara-i-Imtiaz,
Honoured Faculty and Staff of the University
of Health Sciences, Lahore,
Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen.
Asalaam-o-Alaikum!
It is a pleasure and a privilege
for me to be invited to deliver this lecture at your new yet "experienced" University.
In some respects yours is an institution with multiple histories - one which
faces the challenge of consolidation. I say this particularly because the University
of Health Sciences is at its most
critical stage now. You have struggled through the birthing pains and focussed,
quite rightly, on establishing a base with existing medical education in the
province. The question before us now, I believe, is how to help nurture the
University. to help it grow into something more than the whole of merging colleges.
more than what is around us. to help it make the impact that is needed in our
society.
As you work through this
nurturing phase, I am certain that you will receive all sorts of advice on many
different aspects of your University. Let me tell you from experience that it
is all worth considering! But you will also hear many doomsday sayers - let's
choose to ignore them, for the University is now in place. All sorts of efforts
will be needed in all sorts of dimensions. from ensuring a flow of resources
to seeking new resources. from setting up the infrastructure to developing linkages
with other quality institutions in the country and overseas. from developing
appropriate curricula to admitting the right students.
One thing is for sure -
your new Institution must not and should not be allowed to continue with business
as usual. Otherwise the very purpose of your new University will be lost. As
you sift through this thought - as you find and make your own way - I am sure
that you will keep before you the overriding principle of quality. I say this
based on my own humble experience at Aga Khan
University - or AKU - not all of
which I must admit is relevant or applicable to your new Institution. Over the
past twenty years at AKU we have worked on the premise that without quality,
an institution of higher education is merely a skeleton. it has no flesh and
bones. it has no soul.
But how do you ensure quality?
I think it is self evident that quality must be sought in the heart of a university.
if it is not nested in the very core then it will not filter through to any
place else. And, not surprisingly, we found that across the world - not just
in universities but in all top-class institutions - the key determinant of quality
are human resources. Specifically, in universities, an indispensable component.
an irreducible core, are the faculty. I would like, therefore, to talk today
about faculty, the cornerstone of higher education.
Let me say a little bit
about where I will be going with this talk. It is generally a good idea to begin
at the very beginning. so I would like to touch on the objectives and place
of a university in society. I would then like to talk a bit about the place
of faculty in this setting. Why do I say that faculty is the cornerstone. the
stone on which the entire edifice of higher education is constructed? This will
lead naturally into a brief mention of the role of faculty, followed by what
a focus on faculty has meant in practical terms for my university, for AKU.
In all of this, let me say up front, that there is nothing new in what I am
about to say. As in all good tales, what's new is not what I am going to say,
what's new is that I will be saying it!
In my assignments as Co-Chairman
of the Task Force on Higher Education and then as the Chairman of the Steering
Committee on Higher Education, while looking at many universities across the
country, I realised that we often take the very existence of universities for
granted.
But should we?
When the founder of our
nation, Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah said that "our national priorities
are education, economy and then defence," there was only one university in the
country. And that, too, was a left-over from a colonial past that we wanted
to forget. Why did the Quaid say what he said? Could it be that he had perceived
for Pakistan as early as 1947 what the President of Rice University in Texas, Malcolm Gillis, said in 1999. that "Today, more
than ever before in human history, the wealth - or poverty - of nations depends
on higher education. Those with a larger repertoire of skills or a greater
capacity for learning can look forward to lifetimes of unprecedented economic
fulfilment. But in the coming decades the poorly educated face little better
than the dreary prospects of lives in quiet desperation."
Let me repeat that: ".the
dreary prospects of lives in quiet desperation." What the Quaid said in
1947 was only a trailer, a lead-in, into the reality of the knowledge-based
economy. The report of the UNESCO-World Bank Task Force on Higher Education,
led by eminent academicians from across the developing and developed worlds,
captured this reality in 2000. and then moved beyond it to place an emphasis
on higher education.
The reality of our world
is, and I quote from the Task Force's report, that, "The world economy is
changing as knowledge supplants physical capital as the source of present (and
future) wealth.. As knowledge becomes more important, so does higher education..
The quality of knowledge generated within higher education institutions, and
its accessibility to the wider economy, is becoming increasingly critical to
national competitiveness.. This poses a serious challenge to the developing
world.. Quite simply, many developing countries will need to work much harder
just to maintain their position, let alone to catch up (p: 12)."
Simply put, there we have
the role of a university in a developing society such as ours. Universities
must be at the forefront of leading our nation into competitiveness and to prevent
our citizens from the "prospects of lives in quiet desperation." There are many
themes that run through this statement. Perhaps we don't have time to dwell
on all of them here. but let me bring out one very pertinent undercurrent in
this purpose of a university, that of impact.
The words of Rice University's
president or the international Task Force say to me that a university must be
aimed at creating an impact in society. not just churning out graduates or writing
footnotes in journals but at working at and for the problems of society. seeking
always to make those interventions, whether in education or research or service,
that can make a difference in our society. The core business of a university
is what can lead our society on the path of development. Not alone, perhaps.
But it is probably the single most effective route to capitalising on the opportunities
present in the world today and to mitigate the disasters in globalisation. This national need is played by a university's very reason for existence, that
is the generation, dissemination and application
of knowledge.
I will come back to these
in a little while. For now, let me bring out another, underlying need. a need
that is implicit in the very concept of education. that of stewardship. If
universities are to fulfil their potential for national development, they must
recognise their responsibility in society: a responsibility of stewardship.
stewardship of future generations. stewardship of society itself. Let me ask
you whether it is possible. whether it is conceivable to think of a university
that does not reflect upon society's greatest problems. can a university be
a university without grappling with our society's most outstanding dilemmas.
without finding new solutions for them? To me, the answer to this is a flat
and resounding, "No!"
Relevance to society is
an undeniable aspect of any university, in fact any institution in a developing
or even industrialised society. Over the past twenty years at Aga
Khan University,
we have strived to keep national priorities and goals at the forefront of our
thinking. to invest both human and financial resources where they can be relevant
to the needs and concerns of our society. But we have also re-discovered the
time-honoured key of quality. we cannot respond to the needs of society or have
an impact unless we focus on the essential demands of quality.
From our inception, guided
by our Chancellor and the Trustees of our University, we based ourselves on
the premise that an institution that compromises on quality is not an institution
worth having. That is a very strong statement: an institution that compromises
on quality is not an institution worth having. In my own limited experience
of looking at and working with universities in Pakistan
I am more convinced than ever before that the problems with higher education
in our country stem more from quality than from quantity. And that quality is
not merely a matter of financial resources, although that is a component, but
a matter of how you establish your systems of management and governance.
Certainly it is a problem
that only 2.6% of our eligible youth are in college or university. but what
are those 2.6% doing? Are they creating an impact in society through their research
or service? Are the issues they are working on relevant to our national needs?
Once they graduate, can they compete with the top physicians and engineers and
economists in the world? As we move to the next theme of my talk, I will ask
you to hold on to some of these concepts: that higher education must be oriented
to quality, relevance and impact if it is to fulfil its potential in society.
So, where is the faculty
situated in all of this? Putting it bluntly, as the Americans say the faculty
is where the rubber hits the road. But perhaps the Americans do not realise
how powerful a statement that is in Pakistan.
We are used to lofty ideals and high-flying plans and policies. we are used
to stumbling on the brakes of implementation at almost every turn and on every
road. Especially in higher education, we are used to stumbling at the implementation
brakes in this country. In almost every arena of our society, and especially
in higher education, we need to hunt for the key that will unlock these brakes.
we need to locate and invest in the resources that will translate our objectives
into reality.
As I have said before, the
key determinant of quality are human resources, and in universities the faculty
are an indispensable component of the capital that a university has. Not just
in the core business of the university: that is education, research and service.
But also, and more fundamentally, in the stewardship of our future generations
and society itself.
When we talk of quality,
of impact and of relevance, the university community as a whole must factor
these into all its actions and directions. but it is the faculty whose attention
to these principles will translate the university's objectives into reality.
That is why I talk about faculty being the cornerstone of higher education:
the stone on which the edges of the building rest. Certainly not the only such
stone. after all any building must have at least four corners! But that does
not take away from the indispensability of this stone.
So, what are these roles
that make faculty indispensable? We know of the very basic functions of all
faculty: teaching and research. Once again, though, after working for a while
with universities across the country, I feel that perhaps we don't appreciate
all that is covered by. that is encompassed by these functions. When we talk
about teaching, for example, do we mean just that the teacher must be competent
in his or her subject? Do we mean that they should, in addition, have the skills
to impart knowledge? Or is there more?
Going back to what I said
about stewardship, I think there is more. we are not just training good professionals,
which we must, but we are educating good citizens, with a sound ethical base
and strong commitment to the betterment of our country's citizens. In taking
care of the future generation, can we afford not to develop their character
in the formative years that they spend with us? The faculty, therefore, must
take the lead in ensuring that their students are being educated in as broad-based
a manner as is possible and feasible. I think that all teachers in this room
would agree with me that we cannot simply neglect the fact that we are here
to produce good minds, not just good physicians. that we are here to produce
responsible citizens, not just technically proficient professionals.
And so, as you know all
over the world there is an emphasis on all aspects of teaching now, not just
on delivering lectures. Increasingly teachers are being asked to devote a significant
amount of time to developing their own curriculum or syllabus, to developing
their own teaching and learning materials, and to exploring the best ways to
impart their knowledge. that is, each lecture that is delivered in the classroom
requires at least three times that time in preparation! All these seem very
simple to say, but extremely difficult to put into practice in our national
environment, where the common trend is just to get by. But if we are to realise
our potential as stewards, as leaders in our society, there must be more to
it.
Likewise in the function
of research. the renewal and generation of knowledge. Is it just the number
of publications that we produce in order to rank on an index? Sure that is an
important objective. Pakistan has among the world's lowest research and PhD student output. But is it enough? Or do we believe in the often-heard adage that, "Great universities are distinguished
by their contribution to the creation of new knowledge." Are we always sure
that our research is aimed at the core problems of our society? That is, relevant
to what we need? Once again, it is faculty that will interface between idealistic
demands and hard realities. the faculty that will engage with the rest of society
to identify our critical problems and explore new ways of tackling them. from
how poverty contributes to the burden of infectious disease to the critical
relationship between early child development and human potential for achievement
and participation. Probably more than any other factor, the faculty will determine
whether the university is a positive resource for society to call upon or a
drain on the nation's limited bank.
Then again, the faculty
have the added burden of not just engaging in research, but also pulling in
others to contribute. engaging students in research. collaborating with other
faculty for multi-disciplinary research within the university and in other institutions.
And in all of this, the faculty have to participate and be encouraged to participate
in the university's affairs. they must help to take the university forward. Not through unbridled anarchy but in a structured way, the faculty must be engaged
in the university's affairs and participate in its directions.
Reflecting back on what
I have just said, this is a tall order! My purpose here is not to overwhelm
you with what you already know, but to serve as a backdrop for what I am about
to say. That is, that without a critical focus on faculty, a university. any
university. cannot translate its goals into reality. What does this focus on
faculty mean in practical terms?
It means especially at the
early stages but - and this must be emphasised - not just now but throughout
the life of any university, an ongoing focus on three aspects: faculty recruitment,
faculty development and faculty enabling.
Recruitment is, of course,
the first critical stage. Getting the best minds from the very beginning is
the key. Again, it is not just at this stage but as a permanent process that
faculty recruitment needs to be a focus of
attention. There are some general principles that can complement this focus,
and that I feel we have tried to ensure at AKU. For a start, we have done our
very best not to compromise on a transparent system of appointments and promotions
that is based on merit and peer review. Second, we have tried to work around
people's priorities to the extent possible. It is not always possible to balance
everyone's needs, but it is an important objective in our recruitment
or retention approach. we have found that it works better for us to be slightly
flexible in determining, for example, whether a faculty member can be appointed
full-time or can only work part-time. Third, I think it has helped us to view
engagements with faculty, and indeed with staff, in the long-term. Perhaps we
didn't start out that way. we were looking to hire full-time staff to fill our
immediate needs. But over time, we have discovered that it serves us better
to maintain long-term engagements with the best minds, whether as full-time
faculty or part-time or even as visiting faculty or volunteers.
The next critical aspect
of a focus on faculty, I believe, is attention to faculty development. This
is a neglected aspect in higher education in Pakistan,
particularly in the health sector. It is often thought that once a physician
becomes a teacher, they just use their notes to deliver their lectures and go
off to their practice. Of course we know that education, especially medical
education, is not like that anymore, if it ever was. Medical education is,
in fact, at the forefront of change in a rapidly changing world. technology
is changing.techniques are changing. knowledge of the body and its relationship
with the environment is changing. the very concept of medicine is changing:
sometimes for the better and sometimes not.
Equally importantly, the
concept of education, of pedagogy is rapidly changing too. new techniques and
knowledge are available to make us better teachers, better educators, better
researchers. As I said before, it does not follow that just because someone
is a good physician, or has a PhD or a Fellowship that they also have good teaching
abilities.
A focus on faculty, indeed
a focus on the very reason for a university's existence, requires us to question
this aspect of all faculty members. and to work with them towards improvement.
Most of all, in this day and age, I think that continuing education is now a
reality all over the world in all fields. keeping abreast is not just an advantage
it is a requirement. But the more continuing education gains importance in
the rest of the world, the more our experience with it in Pakistan
disappoints us. There are few cases in the country generally in which faculty
development through continuing education feeds back into their professional
lives or their teaching or research output.
Can we think ahead, say
five or ten years from now, to a time when such continuing education is actually
a requirement for certification in any professional field. or even as a medical
teacher? This is the practice in some other countries, where even nurses are
required to continually upgrade their skills to learn of the latest developments
in their profession and in teaching practices and to renew their certifications.
At a university-wide level,
the basic issue is probably a definition of faculty development. Is it an ad-hoc
business of sending someone on a training? At AKU we recognised that this approach
does not help us. although it is not easy, we felt that faculty development
requires planning, appropriate placement, investment, follow-up and further
planning. We learnt from the value placed on faculty development elsewhere in
the world. it is not a luxury to address when we have the time or feel more
"established". but must be addressed from day one.
If faculty is indeed the
cornerstone of our very existence, then what is the best way to invest in them
so that the university's objectives are met? I can put forward here the three
ways we have found that work at AKU.
First and foremost, financial
resources must be earmarked.Let me assure you, this is quite a challenge even
in well-endowed universities across the globe. Support must not only be sought
from sponsors or founders of the University - in your case the Government -
but also from the very society which we are expected to serve. Indeed it is
the quality, relevance and impact of our performance that will earn us the respect
and material support of philanthropists in our society. These are the same qualities
external funding agencies look for before rendering support.
Second, we need to ask tough
questions, and it is the responsibility of faculty to be engaged in these:
what do we want from our faculty? What skills do they have and what do they
need? How can we monitor and ensure their performance? How do we make their
development a lifelong process that the institution can support? How can their
time at the institution be a fulfilling one? What sorts of interaction do faculty
need with external scientists, educators, clinicians?
Third, systems relevant
to the university must be developed and put in place, operated and reviewed.
We cannot simply lift training and development models from other countries where
the context is very different. we have to establish models suited to our own
context and needs. Likewise with faculty evaluation models, which are inextricably
linked to faculty development approaches. we need to ensure that we invest only
in those faculty who deserve it, but also that we can monitor the results of
that investment. At AKU we have evolved some home-grown systems, learning from
best practice across the world, that focus on transparency. For example, these
are based on peer reviews, student evaluations, as well as meeting of objectives
that were pre-agreed by the faculty member and his or her senior.
Finally, let me turn to
the third aspect of a focus on faculty: enabling faculty to perform. This is
perhaps where the least concentration and thought has been invested in Pakistan.
In my examination of looking at higher education institutions across the country,
both in the public and private sectors, I found that the fundamental issue is
that of management and governance systems in universities. This has a major,
almost determining impact on the performance of faculty and hence the quality
of education. Especially in light of focus on faculty recruitment,
once you have the best minds, how will you retain them?
It is not just a matter
of financial compensation but also providing the environment to meet their goals.
This environment can, perhaps, be provided in some very direct ways, for example
through the provision of adequate facilities, infrastructure, computers and
learning resources, support staff, performance-based incentives, and so on.
One very direct way is to
focus on compensation policies: the current practice of clinical faculty means
that they earn most of their living outside the university which, in turn, means
little research, less concentration on teaching and less participation in helping
to take the university forward. I know that this is a difficult issue, and there
are many parameters and boundaries that we need to be aware of and work around.
But in doing so, I feel, we should be mindful that the key is time. I would
say that it is not possible to have even a college, let alone a university,
without enabling faculty to spend time with students, in research, in thinking
of and helping to take society forward, and in taking the university itself
forward.
More indirect but no less
effective ways of providing an enabling environment are to ensure that management
systems are transparent and have built-in accountability. and that they create
a participatory environment that encourages faculty engagement with the goals
and objectives of the university. This can be provided by, for example, strong,
transparent, completely internal decision-making forums without allowing the
university to be held hostage to party politics or anarchy.
With these three focuses
on recruiting, developing and enabling faculty I feel that a university, any
university, has the basic ingredient to mix together into a useful, productive
outcome for society. These factors could be particularly relevant to your new
University as you consolidate and strengthen the quality of your own programmes.
It is so simple once stated, that it almost seems axiomatic: we need to put
people first. by doing so, we can not only build the best possible institution
but also the best possible country.
As physicians and as educators
our entire existence is founded on the belief that the preservation of life
and development of human resources are the keys to national development. I ask
whether there is any better way to fulfil our mission than by focussing on these
very human resources.
Before I close, let me say
that I believe that we are at an interesting stage in the history of our country.
We have many opportunities and many traps ahead of us. In this time of national
need it is for us, the universities, to lead a process of development by aligning
ourselves with national priorities and goals. And in this process the faculty
have a central and indispensable role to play. There is a challenge ahead of
us. posed some decades ago by H G Wells, who said that "Human history becomes
more and more a race between education and catastrophe?". Are we ready to
take his challenge and win the race?
Thank you!
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