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AKU Seminar: 'Higher Education - Promise and Potential'
World Bank-UNESCO Task Force Urges International Donors to Increase
Support for Higher Education
AKU held a seminar in Karachi on February 7, 2001, to create awareness
among senior academics, policy makers and donors in Pakistan
of the contents and conclusions of the Report of the joint
World Bank-UNESCO Task Force on Higher Education in Developing
Countries.
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| Panel discussion following the seminar
on the joint World Bank-UNESCO Task Force Report on Higher
Education in Developing Countries. L to R: Professor David
Bloom of Harvard University; Captain U.A.G. Isani, Chair
of University Grants Commission; Professor Henry Rosovsky,
Harvard University; Dr. Shamsh Kassim-Lakha, President
of AKU; Professor Anita Ghulam Ali, Provincial Minister
for Education; Syed Babar Ali, Pro-Chancellor of the Lahore
University of Management Sciences, and Dr. Camer Vellani,
Rector of AKU. |
The principal speakers included Professors Henry Rosovsky and David Bloom
of Harvard University. Welcoming the guest speakers, Dr Camer
Vellani, Rector, AKU, drew attention to the need for providing
higher education in every country, adding that the knowledge
of the interdependence of the various elements of the world
we live in adds a broader context that induces tolerance and
constructive behavior. Henry Rosovsky, the Geyser University
Professor Emeritus and former Dean of the Harvard University
College of Arts and Sciences, commented on the importance
given by the Task Force to general education as an important
component of higher education. While recognising that in knowledge-based
societies, development of human capital is the key, the Task
Force suggested that scientific and technological education
be balanced by a broad based education which values the abilities
to think, write and communicate clearly and effectively, and
promotes moral and ethical standards. The report presents
important economic and social arguments for increasing support
to the higher education sector. It urged donors to support
higher education, something that has been neglected because
of the focus on primary education.
The Sindh government’s interest in this seminar was reflected by the presence
of the Governor, Mohammadmian Soomro, the Provincial Minister
for Education, Professor Anita Ghulam Ali, and Vice Chancellors
of universities from across the province. Governor Soomro,
in his address, referred to the major initiatives being undertaken
by the government to improve the quality of education. He
was pleased to note that the Task Force Report stressed good
governance in higher education and the roles of both science
and technology as well as general education.
The presentations evoked considerable interest among participants who
included a wide cross-section of those interested in and responsible
for education, representatives from the University Grants
Commission and the World Bank, diplomats, and principals of
schools and colleges. The intense and frank discussion of
the current state of higher education, which followed the
presentations, indicated a willingness to change. Professor
Anita Ghulam Ali’s participation as a panelist further indicated
the government’s interest in improving higher education.
In the concluding session, Dr Shamsh Kassim-Lakha, President, AKU, who
had moderated the panel discussions, highlighted the critical
implications of this report for Pakistan - the need for clear
standards and systems, which promote good governance in the
higher education sector; and the need for partnerships and
alliances, both inside and beyond Pakistan, essentially required
to build strength and take advantage of modern technologies.
The fact that the World Bank and UNESCO had sponsored this
Report augurs well for the health of higher education. On
behalf of the participants, Dr. Kassim-Lakha expressed the
hope that increased support from key international agencies
would re-vitalise reform efforts in the country.
The following day, Professor Rosovsky led a group of faculty and staff
in wide ranging discussions on the University’s new College
of Arts and Sciences, for which planning is under way.
The seminar at AKU indicated that efforts to induce a change may be supported
from within universities and that pragmatic plans for implementation
might be received positively by the provincial and federal
governments. In its conclusions, the seminar stressed the
need for a document outlining such a plan, which could be
implemented by collaborative efforts of the government, the
University Grants Commission, faculty and leadership of universities.
As an outcome of these deliberations, it was recommended that a task force
should be appointed by the Government of Pakistan to propose
practical ways of improving higher education in the country.
It was suggested that the task force should consist of 11
members comprising senior representatives of the Federal Ministry
of Education, the University Grants Commission (UGC), the
public universities, the Lahore University of Management Sciences
(LUMS) and AKU, co-chaired by Syed Babar Ali, Pro-Chancellor
of LUMS, and Dr. Shamsh Kassim-Lakha.
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