Dr. Irshad Ahmad Farrukh, secretary, National Accreditation Council for Teacher Education (NACTE), is greatly disappointed with the quality of social sciences research being conducted in Pakistan. He feels that universities in the country have been turned into factories, churning out M.Phil and Ph.D degree-holders every year.
But, he regrets, the accumulative impact of these researches has been far from satisfactory and the so-called scholars have failed to contribute to improving the quality of education and research in the country.
According to the Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training, 5,536 Ph.D degrees have been awarded during the last five years. The number of Ph.D degrees awarded in 2010 was 832 in 2011, it reached 1,024 degrees in 2012, it was 1,118, in 2013, it soared to 1,211 and it touched 1,351 mark in 2014. A total of 25,812 students were enrolled in Ph.D programmes and 180,079 were enrolled in MS/M.Phil programmes in universities during this period.
However, very few of all these researches could be termed of international standards, claims Dr. Farrukh.
Known social scientist and academician, Prof. Hassan Askari, endorses Dr. Irshad Farrukh’s viewpoint. He says that a large number of Ph.Ds and M.Phils have been awarded regarding the post-September 2001 situation with a special focus on relations and issues among Pakistan, US, Afghanistan, India and China, terrorism and counter-terrorism. But the theses produced during this period have failed to make their place at the international scene, he says while speaking at a conference, organized by the Karachi University in January 2016.
Among other factors, Prof. Askari holds the Higher Education Commission (HEC) responsible for this state of affairs. He says that academic institutions had been complaining about plagiarism in research papers and Ph.D/M.Phil theses, but the Commission and universities failed to deal with the issue. This inaction is resulting in piling up of ineffective and useless material in the name of research, the social scientist alleges.
Prof. Askari, himself a researcher, believes that the Ph.D researches should focus primarily on filling the gaps between the existing literature on Pakistan and its population in each area of social sciences. Such studies must meet the established academic standards to promote knowledge and research on Pakistan, he suggests.
The academician explains to Cutting Edge, after the conference, that social sciences could only be relevant to societal problem solving if the prerequisites of their quality are fulfilled and the standardised methodological requirements of data collection, scientific analysis and research are adequately met.
He believes that social sciences can be instrumental in promoting societal harmony and nation-building by maintaining quality of research and pursuing contentious issues in a dispassionate and non-partisan manner, rather than creating a justification for what serves the purposes of the ruling elite in the country.
However, Prof. Atta-ur-Rahman, former federal minister and the founding chairman of the HEC, strongly defends the Commission as well as the quality of research in Pakistan. In a telephonic interview, he tells Cutting Edge that all criticism of the HEC has been rejected by neutral foreign experts after year-long reviews of the progress made by Pakistan in the quality of education and research.
He reveals that the country has won a number of international awards for its achievements including the prestigious TWAS (Italy) award and the highest civil award of the government of Austria. After evaluation of the higher education sector, Professor Michael Rode, chairman of the United Nations Commission on Science, Technology and Development, wrote: “Never before have I seen such rapid positive changes in any country in the higher education sector as witnessed in Pakistan in a short period of six years.”
Dr. Atta admits that there are a few stray cases of “cut and paste” research articles (plagiarism) but the HEC has always acted swiftly to check such cases. He claims that Pakistan is probably the only country with a nationwide system in operation to detect cheating in research papers. A software called “ithenticate”/ “turnitin”, has been introduced in every university to check the theses and research papers as far as any illegally copied materials are concerned.
The educationist says that a watchdog unit has also been established within the HEC, and out of the 14,000 international research publications during the past two years, no cases of plagiarism were detected. In order to enhance the quality of teaching and research, about 84 quality assurance cells have been established in all public sector universities, he adds.
Prof. Dr. Obaidullah, attached with the Institute of Education and Research, the University of the Punjab, says that universities in developed countries have an established research culture. The research output of academia greatly contributes towards the development of these countries, he tells Cutting Edge in an interview.
However, he regrets that little is being done at the universities to help the country shape its economic, social and scientific policies, as far as research is concerned. He says that after formation of the HEC in 2002, reforms were introduced in universities. Thousands of scholars were sent abroad for higher studies and many of them have already returned and are now serving in the country.
But, there is no denying the fact that a large number of these researchers never returned to the country though they were sent abroad on scholarships. The Commission should ensure that every scholarship holder returns to the country after getting a degree from abroad. It would improve the standard of education as well as research in Pakistan.
Dr. Obaidullah says that the HEC has set no criteria for the number and quality of publications, produced during the course of the Ph.Ds abroad. Scholars pursuing their studies from reputed universities abroad publish fewer but quality papers whereas for the ones here, it is the other way round.
The educationist says that universities in Pakistan require a certain number of publications along with a Ph.D for promotion. The quality of publications is conveniently ignored and so a person having fewer good publications with hundreds of citations is left behind while someone having many publications in unknown conferences and journals grabs the position of a tenured professor. This puts off academics from working hard after completing their Ph.Ds and, once back in Pakistan, they end up publishing in all sorts of dubious journals/conferences.
Dr. Obaidullah says that one of the main reasons for poor quality research is lack of resources, as original and groundbreaking research needs funding. Universities in developed countries have special funds for the training of their academics, for which they send them to summer schools and workshops.
The educationist regrets that the HEC does not have adequate funding for organizing conferences and travel grants for researchers attending conferences. Researchers have to apply for the visas before travelling to the conference venue and due to the long process of funding approval, sometimes they are unable to get the visas on time.
Another reason, adds the Punjab University teacher, is lack of coordination between academia and the local industry. Around the world, industry works in collaboration with academia so cutting-edge research can solve the relevant problems of the age. This transfer of knowledge from academia to industry is of primary focus in developed economies.
However, in Pakistan, says the educationist, the gap between academia and industry is too wide. Neither is research shaped by industry’s concerns, nor is it good enough to address them anyway. Students usually offer industrial solutions at a small price, which should be attractive to companies. The university, on the other hand, can complement their research by securing funds and equipment for students from the industry in exchange for their ideas.
Prof. Obaidullah says that for inculcating healthy and fruitful research practices in academia, those at the helm of affairs need to start thinking long-term and create research-conducive environments in universities. It is high time that research-based projects are introduced in our undergraduate and postgraduate programmes. Only focused and continuous efforts could help our universities acquire world standards in research in Pakistan, believes the educationist.
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